Providence Of The Universe
by toniestark
Summary: She didn't know what to do, or say, or think. All that passed through her mouth was: "You're Tony Stark." He gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And you're the girl who broke through my security in less than a minute."
1. Prologue

_**Hello, and welcome to my new fic, a first for this account!**_

 _ **I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 **Prologue.**

It hadn't been planned, of course. Things like these never are.

But when you're drunk and desperately trying to impress a group of people, you can't really say no.

That's what Allie tried to tell herself later when her head was sore and her mouth dry, unable to remember what was going through her head when she accepted the bait that was dangled in front of her; she had taken it, had no second thoughts because the cheap vodka had addled her brain and her common sense was nowhere to be found and that intense need to be liked reared its ugly head. _It can't hurt,_ was probably what the small, fragile voice in her head said and she had listened to it – like an idiot.

Lisa had convinced her to come to the small house party; they weren't into big clubs and blaring music anymore, not like when they were in college. She was twenty-five, but Allie felt she was moving onto fifty and as they stood outside, she made a point to sniffle as loudly as she could, fisting her pink tipped hands beneath her arms to ward away the cold.

"Who are these people again?" Allie asked, ear cocked at the sounds of laughter rushing from inside. Lisa tugged at her top awkwardly and looked down at the bottle of wine in her hand; store bought, ten dollars. Nothing fancy, but better than showing up empty handed.

"They used to go to college with us, I don't know," Lisa replied back, reaching up to push a strand of hair behind her ear, hooking it in place. Lisa sounded exasperated, as if she didn't want to be there anymore than Allie. Which was believable, as Lisa was the one with the much stricter job and showing up hung over tomorrow wouldn't be the best idea. "She messaged me, and I think we had mutual friends or were in the same class, something like that."

"And I'm here because…?" Allie trailed off, the two lingering on the door step, on the fringe of social interaction. Neither wanted to be there but both didn't want to remain a social recluse either. They turned to face each other, Lisa in her slightly more formal ( _casual_ , she had told Allie but even her most casual clothes were more formal than anything Allie had in her closet) clothes and Allie in her nicest casual clothes.

"Because I didn't want to come alone," Lisa offered with a quirked smile, reaching across Allie to ring the doorbell, holding it for a few seconds with the sound chiming within and sounding muffled. The talk from within lulled for a second before picking up. "And it's a great opportunity for us to widen our friendship circle!"

"Our friendship circle consists of you and me, Leese, that's a friendship duo," Allie murmured, causing her friend to smile at the words before the door was opened and their host for the night greeted them. The warmth from within spilled out and Allie let out a sigh of relief at the feeling, the two young women smiling though, albeit, forced.

"Lisa, hey!" the girl said, stepping across the threshold to wrap her arm around the other woman. "So glad you could make it! And this is…?"

"Oh! Allison Lawrence," Lisa said, pulling back from the half awkward hug to place a hand in the middle of Allie's back. "She's a friend. Allie, you remember Louise Kern?"

"Of course, I do," Allie responded, while having not the faintest idea as to who Louise was, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual as Louise's face scrunched up but reached a hand out nonetheless, Allie taking it and giving it a firm shake before Louise pulled back, eyes bouncing between the two.

"Come inside, before all the warmth leaves!" Lisa ushered the two women in from the cold, grin still on her face and Allie could see her cheeks were pink from whatever they had been drinking before she arrived. Her palms began to tingle as the warmth seeped in through her bones, fingers flexing and unflexing as she and Lisa lingered in the hall, unsure of where to go or what to do.

"We brought a bottle, just in case," Lisa piped up, handing it over carefully, afraid it might drop and stain the floorboards red.

"Oh, wow, red wine! It's my favourite!" Louise said, looking at the bottle in her hand, squinting at the label and fingers drumming on the neck. The bottle had remained unopened throughout the entire night. "Take of your coats, everyone is in the kitchen."

Shrugging out of the extra layer of clothes, Allie hung her coat of the hook, the label catching on before they followed Louise to the source of the sound, the faint smell of food lingering in the air, lacing with the undeniable trace of alcohol.

There weren't many people, not as many as Allie had thought there would be; three lingered around the kitchen, holding bottles or glasses, pouring the last few drops of wine into a mug, talking to one another, through one another. There was not a single face that Allie knew, and her eyes darted to Lisa, who scanned the room as she had and found nothing but strangers. Louise placed the bottle of red on the kitchen counter, atop of a pile of magazines that were worn with age and dog eared, before turning to the two.

"You want a drink?"

Allie had taken coke and vodka in a mug, stamped with small umbrellas and was heavy to hold. The room was lit with a golden glow over-head, the lampshade casting a rim of shadow to the farthest place and bathing the centre in light, just above the table.

The drink had been her first mistake; there had been more coke than vodka and she had it downed in less than ten minutes. When conversation lulled with Louise, who had tried to tend to Allie as host, Allie used the excuse of getting another drink to break away from the awkwardness. Drink number two hadn't been the second mistake, neither had drink number three. They had decided that they would stay for three hours, no more, no less, and the clock was edging closer and closer to ten. But when ten came and went, that had been mistake number two.

Mistake number three came at eleven forty-six, her seventh drink in her hand and a goofy grin on her face. Her jaw was numb, and she was pretty sure she was drinking straight up vodka at this point. Lisa sat beside her and was talking as loud as she could so as to be heard by the others. Louise was chatting to the only other girl closely, not paying heed to the rest of her guests. Allie felt warm, fuzzy at the edges as her thumb circled the rim of the cup, Lisa keeping the attention of all others on her.

"So, how did you two meet?"

That had been mistake number four.

"It was at college – " Allie began lazily but was cut off by Lisa.

"No, no, it was _during_ college we met, but we actually met when she fixed my computer!"

 _Number five._

"It wasn't that hard, Leese, and you're just _really_ bad at tech."

"Oh, are you good with computers?"

 _Six_.

"Is she _good_ with computers? She's like… I don't know, _amazing_ with computers and numbers and all that. Like, you ever see those hacker movies?"

"Ew, Leese, don't call me that – it makes me sound like a weird kid villain."

"What hacker movies?"

"I don't know, just one of _those_ hacker movies, you know the ones."

Lisa waved her off, continuing on. "But she can do _anything_ with a computer, can get into _anywhere_."

Allie felt her cheeks turn red, either from the embarrassment or the praise, and a shy giggle left her lips, hands reaching up to cover her burning face, the dampness from the condensation of the mug slick on her palms. A muffled groan left her as she tried to voice her shyness, but Lisa gave her a slap on the shoulder.

"Bull _shit_ , that kind of shit only exists in movies."

And _that_ had been the magic, and quite tragic, mistake number seven.

Her pride, what was left of it, felt annoyed and Allie dropped her hands, scoffing and rolling her eyes at the man who had said it; she didn't even know his name, couldn't even remember it later (Larry? Gary?), all that she knew was that it was completely, and utterly, _his_ fault. The drink had buried her sense in the dirt and she could not fight through the haze to reel herself in, to stop the words from falling from the tip of her tongue.

"Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?"

It felt like a stupid game, something akin to spin the bottle and Louise leant her laptop for the occasion, not bothered to ask what it was for as Allie dug the wire from her charger out from the pocket of her coat, nearly toppling the vase of flowers that lay beside the stairs. Her fingers felt numb and her head hurt with having to actually think as she plopped herself back down in the chair, chugging back the remnants of her drink as the guy who had challenged her, Larry or Gary or whatever, placed the laptop down in front of her, scooting his chair to watch her work as Lisa did the same, the only other guy of the group electing to watch from behind. With some difficulty, Allie managed to connect her phone to the laptop, stretching and straightening her fingers as she waited for the laptop to finish booting up.

For her first trick, she quickly bypassed Louise's password and the two men snorted, while Lisa remained enthralled by the straw in her cup, one eye on her drink, the other on the screen. Using the phone and the laptop was difficult as Allie's coordination had been damaged by the drink she had consumed, but she still remained concentrated. Her fingers stumbled a few times as she worked, listening to the requests of her spectators, asking for her to get in to Facebook accounts, their own or someone else's. Then, Lisa asked her to go into the Twitter account of an ex, one of the men asked her to get into his boss' email.

It was innocent fun, not something one could be incriminated for. She could barely keep her eyes on the bright screen and her mind was focused on one thing and another. Her thoughts felt scattered and she felt quite sick and then –

"If you can get into anywhere, then I dare you – "

"You 'dare' her? What are you, twelve?"

"Shut up. I _dare_ you to get into Stark Industries."

Lisa turned her head around, frowning at the words. "Don't be stupid, she could get into trouble."

Larry or Gary snorted and rolled his eyes. "If she's good, she won't get caught."

Allie straightened her spine and sneered at Larry or Gary. "I'm not good, I'm _brilliant_."

Lisa focused in that bit more, sitting properly in her chair and leaning close to Allie. The smell of her perfume invaded Allie's mind and she felt herself being dragged back down to Earth once more, away from the clouds. "Hey, listen Al, just because you can, doesn't mean you shouldn't."

Lisa was right, of course she was, anyone could see that. Allie knew she should have listened to her, should have closed the laptop then and there. Lisa's tone was of seriousness and Allie knew what could happen if she got caught; her hands stilled over the laptop and she bit her bottom lip, regaining her composure and she hesitated for the briefest of moments.

Then she shook her head, scattering those thoughts to the four corners of her mind and letting a wicked grin take her place. Stark Industries was a big no-no; a company with the weight and power to have her locked away forever was not something that she was going to target, so her mind led her to next best thing.

"What about the Avengers?"

There was not much that Allie knew about the group; she didn't really keep up to date with the coming and goings of _superheroes_ and if they had had a website, she might have spared herself the trouble and redecorated the home page. But no, her mind delved further than that; in a world of technological age, there was nothing that wasn't online, and she knew that a guy like Stark had a system that she was itching to get by – she wasn't what Lisa built her up to be to the other two guests, some wicked _hacker_ (God, what was this? The eighties?) who broke into companies and stole information like that Lang guy some time back.

She was someone who had gone to a mediocre college, gotten her degree in English and History and worked as a barista in one of a million Starbucks.

And it wasn't a bad idea – it was a terrible idea; she was drunk and anything to do with Stark was technologically superior and far beyond this laptop and her inebriated self. One misstep and she would be sent straight to jail. One misstep, and it was all game over.

But the _thrill_ , the _challenge_ , the _possibility_ made her excited, made her body hum as she didn't bother suppress the grin.

And they watched in silence, Louise and the other girl wandering over to watch at what had captured the silence of the others. Twelve sixteen crawled onto the clock and Allie slipped once on the board but corrected herself, trying to fight the sleep and the intrusive thoughts of whether she should go for a shower in the morning or when she got home. Lisa chewed on the end of her straw, grinding it into a pulp between her teeth as Allie fought the need to yawn and there was a dull ache at the back of her mouth from the drink, Louise tapping her glass and her ring clinking, Larry or Gary watching with half lidded eyes and –

"There, done."

They all stared at the screen, trying to make sense. There wasn't much of interest and Louise gave a shrug, turning away with the girl at her side, Lisa sighing and getting up to get another drink. Files, upon files, upon files lay out before Allie and her two remaining spectators, all labelled with numbers and words that made no sense. It had taken her thirty-seven seconds, and she scrolled through on what she saw on the screen, clicking her tongue and leaning back against her chair. Her eyes flashed over names and places and times and dates and they made no sense and were of no interest for Allie and, satisfied she had proved herself, she left, remembering to scatter any trace that might she might leave behind as evidence that she had been there.

"Neat," Larry or Gary whistled before turning to Allie and his friend. "Anyway, have any of you seen Game of Thrones yet?"

* * *

It was twelve seventeen – twelve seventeen in the morning and he wanted to sleep, wished he could and Tony was going to strangle whoever had decided to jolt him awake just as he was about to disappear into a state of unconsciousness.

With a grumble, eyes squinted to dim the harsh brightness of his phone, Tony grabbed the rectangle demon from his bedside table, shoving beneath the opposite pillow and there was silence, briefly.

"Boss."

He loved F.R.I.D.A.Y, he truly did, but he was going to wring her neck for waking him – well, he would if she weren't an AI.

"Tony is asleep and is not to be disturbed," he murmured into his pillow, tugging the blankets up further.

"Boss, there's been a – "

"No, no, no, I don't care if the world's ending _again_ or if the government has fallen or if humanity has descended into chaos. I am going to get my eight hours of sleep and there is nothing on this Earth that will – "

"There's been a breach in the security system."

There was a brief interlude of peace in Tony's life, a tiny moment where everything was calm and quiet, and he could get some sleep and it had consisted of six days! What a record. The AI's words still hadn't sunk in as Tony pulled himself up, the heel of his palms digging into his eyes to banish the traces of sleep that lingered at the edges of his vision.

"A what?"

"A breach; someone has gotten into the security system."

There was a pause.

And then, panic.

Tony grabbed his phone that lay smothered beneath a pillow and unlocked the screen, pulling up the notification that had torn him from his sleep.

Just for once, _just once_ , he'd like to go a week without shit happening.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	2. Chapter One

**_I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise._**

 ** _Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!_**

* * *

 ** _Chapter One._**

"Hey, have you seen my jeans?"

"You have, like, eighteen pairs of jeans, Al, you're going to have to be just a _bit_ more specific."

"You know the ones I'm talking about, Leese; they're blue, they're ripped at the knees, high waisted… and you're wearing them."

Lisa paused the cup that was half-way to her mouth and the two young women looked down at the pair of jeans she was wearing as Allie stood, quite pantless, in the kitchen with half her barista uniform on. She had gone through the trouble of getting up early to go for a shower and had hoped to go in early but with her most comfortable pair of jeans gone missing, she had wasted nearly seventeen and a half minutes looking for them.

"I thought these were a bit small…"

"I literally have my name stitched into the tag."

"Cut me some slack, none of us ever do the washing and take whatever we find," Lisa sighed turning around to place her cup down on the counter top, a small _clink_ sounding sharp to Allie's ears as she unzipped the jeans and pushed them down her legs, unhooking each foot to throw the denim to Allie, picking up her coffee again as Allie slipped into them.

"Ah, nice and toasty," Allie sighed, wriggling into them and rolling up the cuffs near her ankles. "Maybe for your first day off you can get around to the whole monster pile of laundry lurking in the corner of the kitchen."

"Nuh-uh," Lisa scoffed, taking a sip of the bitter beverage before her features morphed into one of disgust, making Allie give a snort.

"You don't even like coffee, why are you drinking it?" Allie asked, pulling a face, nose scrunching up as she clicked the kettle on, nearly gagging at the smell of the bitter drink. Not the best idea to work in a place that serves a majority of coffee when she couldn't stand the smell of it; but, then again, beggars can't be choosers.

"Because the rest of my co-workers drink it," Lisa replied, but moved to pour it down the drain nonetheless, placing it beneath the tap to rinse out the remnants with water before placing it back beside Allie's cup, placing another tea bag into her now empty cup.

"Wow, I never figured you to be such a social climber."

"Doesn't matter because I'm applying for that place at Stark Industries," Lisa replied, leaning back against the counter, not caring about her lack of pants. At her word's, Allie paused her actions of reaching for her own tea bag, her eyebrows lifting up on her forehead.

"Really? I thought after the last rejection you said, and I quote, 'Screw old man Stark, he can eat my entire ass,'" Allie said, pulling her voice up an octave to worsen her impression of her friend, resulting in the other girl hitting her lightly on the arm but there was a smile tugging itself up in her lips.

"Oh, hush, I've gotten over it and it's _wasn't_ a rejection," Lisa stressed, pulling a frown at Allie's words. The kettle clicked, and Allie gave a hum, picking it up to pour the boiling water in each cup, nearly filling it to the brim before placing it back onto the stand. "And I'm applying for a completely different position."

"Oh?" Allie inquired, quirking an eyebrow as she stirred the teabag in her own bag, taking her time and not all too worried about not being early for work. After working there for nearly five years, she had learned to relax and not be as uptight. Despite customer service being the absolute _worst_ , her manager was a pretty decent guy. He was only a couple years older than her and the two of them were oldest members of staff as well as being the longest there compared to the others. Lisa gave a nod of confirmation, puffing her chest up in pride.

"A position opened up for Pepper Potts' assistant."

Allie stopped her stirring and stared at Lisa with a deadpan look on her face, all trace of amusement slipping from her face. "You're _kidding_."

"No, I'm being serious! After so many years – "

"No, I mean, you're kidding that you're applying, right? The last time you were an assistant, you cried after your first day because you got the coffee order wrong."

Allie still remembered the fateful day and how red-eyed and pink nosed Lisa had been, burying her face and shame into her hands as she mumbled that she would never, ever work as an assistant ever again. While amusing at first, it hadn't been as funny hours later when Lisa continued to mope around the apartment, murmuring and cursing herself. The job had lasted an entire week before Lisa cracked beneath the pressure and quit without a second thought. Lisa's face screwed up as if she was remembering it too but gave a shrug and took her own cup in her hand, breathing in the smell of her lemon tea.

"This is different," Lisa sighed, trying to get her point across and seeming disgruntled when Allie gave her an amused hum, blue eyes bright as Lisa rolled her own. "She's a woman, I'm a woman. I'm older and that was four years ago!"

"Right," Allie commented, dragging the word out as she grabbed the milk from the fridge, pleased with having the tea bag soaked in the water for long enough, giving it a deep brown, nearly black, colour before she added a splash of milk, watching it turn a dark beige colour. At her actions, Lisa gave a retching sound.

"That's disgusting," she shuddered, and Allie smirked, bringing her drink to her lips and taking a gulp, making a sound of satisfaction as she pulled the cup away and smacked her lips.

"Nothing like the perfect, and _rightly made_ , cup of tea in the morning," Allie teased, turning away from her friend to finish getting ready in her room, one hand holding it by the base so as to not spill anything on the floorboards.

"It's wrong and so are you! And stop leaving cups in your bedroom! I had to drink from a bowl last time!"

Allie gave a wave over her shoulder in response, letting her friend's words fly over her head as she entered her room, where the sight of her hoarded mugs lay dotted around the place. _Home, sweet home._

* * *

 _So close to home time, yet so far away._

"Okay, say if – "

"Kyle, I honestly don't think it's within me to not care even less, because _I don't care._ "

"How can you not care about the Avengers?! They've saved the world – twice!"

"Because, quite frankly, I don't centre my life on other people."

"I literally saw you live tweeting the new _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_ season premiere in the backroom last Tuesday."

Allie paused her wiping of the counter and turned to face the younger man, a spotty faced nineteen-year-old who had been working here for a few months; the place was nearly empty, slowing down at around four as it usually did, and the morning rush had left them all in a tizzy, feet aching and backs sore from standing up all day. Not that Allie minded; being busy meant that she had no time to look at the clock, which meant more time passed without her having to look at the clock.

It made a weird sense and the last time she had checked the time crawling until home time had been three and a half hours ago.

Allie wrung the towel in between her hands and placed it on her shoulder, resting her elbow against the marble counter top and nearly sighing at relief with being allowed to rest.

"Oh, so you saw that, and you still haven't followed me? Wow, okay, I see how it is. That's fine Kyle, next time you need a fake note to get out of P.E, maybe get your mom to actually sign it."

"The reason I didn't follow you is because you haven't approved my request to follow you?"

Allie paused, mouth opening as if to defend herself before she decided on giving a shrug in response. "Anyway, the Kardashians are different, okay – they're _icons_ , Kyle, _icons_ ; style icons, make up icons – "

"Please, stop saying icon."

" – and are plain up iconic. Does a guy with a hammer show me an outfit of the day? Did Captain America get his shield at _Forever 21?_ Does Black Widow have an amazing range of lipsticks? No? Didn't think so."

Kyle rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in defeat as he stalked away to clear the tables down before he left for the night; Allie had still an hour left before she was gone but she knew that by the time she left, the rush would pick up again. After years of wheedling and begging and kissing up to her manager, she finally got out of the night shift and hadn't been on it for a year and a half. Her days off were amazing too and she almost didn't hate her job.

With a tired sigh, Allie continued to wipe down the counter, nose scrunching up at the small puddles of cold coffee and tea alike that had accumulated throughout the day. The sharpie that was in the front pocket of her apron had been placed in without its cap and a large ink stain was bleeding its way across the green front, though thankfully not onto her pants. Her hair was frazzled, feeling far too thin and stringy despite the shower in the morning due to the amount of times she had pushed back the strands of hair that escaped her ponytail, hooking every wisp that sprung free behind her ear before it bounced back out.

The place was relatively quiet; save for a man clicking away on his laptop and a middle-aged woman nursing her third coffee, constantly looking at her phone for the time, there was no one else. In this part of New York, far from the hubbub of the centre and the milling tourists and city dwellers, there was not much to see and, hence, not much to do. The usual customers were other workers, up at eight, arriving at nine for their usual before they were off. For some people, she could ramble of their order without hesitation.

This job, this _life_ , wasn't what she had envisioned for herself, that was sure, but Allie knew her lack of options, knew the times that were settling around her and how they weren't exactly good for people like _her_. She hadn't been born in the country, her Irish accent made that clear, and she knew the pointed look people gave her, as if asking _are you here illegally?_ Oh, if only they knew, it made her nearly bark with laughter. But, in the end, Allie knew that she had it better than others.

As she washed her hands, hoping to rid herself of the stickiness and sweat that covered her palms, Allie let herself entertain the impossible dream of going home, of getting a job she actually wanted to do and not spend the rest of her days smiling and asking strangers in her buttery, sweet voice _Hi, what can I get for you today?_

It made her shudder to hear how absolutely _fake_ she sounded.

But she had to deal with the terrible cards life had handed her and she wouldn't be dwell on the past.

Checking the clock as she dried her hands, Allie let out a small raspberry as the hand inched ever so slowly towards the hope of home; she could find something to do, maybe help Kyle with the table tops or clean the backroom –

"Hey, Al? Your phone's been going off like mad back here," a voice called out from the staff room, indicating it was her manager, Francis. Allie frowned, placing the towel back down as she finished wiping her hands on her apron, little droplets being soaked into the strands.

The break room was small and couldn't fit everyone at once if they piled in; there was a wall dedicated for hanging up coats and bags, another wall where the small fridge lay, sitting on top of a makeshift counter that also held a microwave, an assortment of plastic dishes and plates as well as some cups and glasses that had no longer been deemed fancy enough for serving customers.

Francis was slurping up the last of his noodles, balancing his phone on one knee that was playing an episode of a show Allie couldn't name or place, one ear phone dangling out of the man's ear as he nodded towards where her phone was, indeed, going off. With a frown, Allie picked it up, unsure of when she had taken it off _do not disturb_ or who was calling and texting like mad. _Well, there's only one person._

Sure enough, Lisa's name came up on the screen, the call that Allie was about to answer disappearing and the brief moment allowed her to scroll through the notifications, thumb nearly aching as she rushed through messages upon messages upon messages, texts and missed calls popping up on the screen. Letting out a low whistle, surprised at the number of notifications, Allie went to unlock her phone before Lisa's name popped up again, buzzing in her hand. Allie thought to maybe let it ring out, just to tease her roommate, but then the fear of it being something _serious_ hit her heart and her thumb pressed the green answer button.

"Hello – ?"

 _"Why the Hell haven't you been answering?! I've been trying to call you for the past twenty minutes!"_

Allie frowned and turned to Francis who gave a thumbs up, popping the other earphone back into his ear, effectively giving her the privacy Allie wanted. With a sigh, Allie turned away, shuffling herself into the corner where the coats and bags were hung, keeping her phone close to her ear, and dropping her voice slightly so as to not be over heard. Phones were usually strictly prohibited, save for lunchtime and if you could sneak a peak without Francis noticing. She supposed he was letting it slide because of how slow it was and because she was near the end of her shift, anyway.

"Because I've been working, Leese. I had my lunch at one and I couldn't find any time to check my phone," Allie explained, keeping her phone steady as panic began to bubble in her blood, worry encasing her heart as she gave a quick glance to check if anyone was paying attention to the conversation before she dropped her voice to a raspy whisper. "Why? Has something happened? Is it - ?"

" _No, it's nothing like that_ ," Lisa replied, sounding a lot calmer but her voice shook, as if on edge or asif she was near tears. It didn't curb the panic that was eating away at Allie's insides. " _I did something stupid, Al, and I need you to get home as soon as possible._ "

Allie glanced over her shoulder once more to sneak a peek at her manager, who seemed too enthralled by his show to care about what was happening in the room. Allie bit her lip, knowing that Francis would let her go, but that didn't mean she wouldn't feel bad; he was a good guy and he had always been nice to her, so she tried not to take advantage of that. But if it was something _serious_ …

"Okay, listen, stay calm and… and I'll try to be there as soon as I can, alright? Just don't get your knickers in a twist," Allie sighed, whispering another goodbye into the phone that wasn't returned and the line died, leaving her in silence. The fact that Lisa hadn't told her what happened, made her fear for the worst. Her teeth grabbed a hold of her bottom lip, gnawing and chewing on it in hope to curb the anxiety brewing in her stomach, knotting her guts, grabbing a hold of her.

She turned slowly, eyes on her manager and tried to find the words, finger tapping on the back of the phone that she held to her chest now as Francis turned his eyes upwards, away from his beloved T.V show and tapped a finger on the screen, pausing it as he pulled the earphones out. Allie pulled an apologetic and awkward face at her manager, one that Francis knew all too well. He gave a sigh, standing to his feet and throwing the container of his noodles in the bin as he placed his phone back on the counter, wrapping the earphones around it to secure them in place.

"Alright, Lawrence, do whatever you need to do, but don't even think about asking for a sick day in the next month," he said, giving her a pointed look that wasn't too all too chastising and her face melted into one of sincerer gratitude, turning around to slip her coat from the hook it was hanging from, her bag slipping over her neck and nestling at the crook.

"Thank you so much, Fran, I owe you big," she expressed, reaching up to give him a pat on the back as a show of appreciation before she turned to make her way out.

"And you're on clean up duty for the next week!" Francis hollered after her, knowing full well that it was no use and Allie knew he was teasing; they were both long past being simply co-workers and had become, somewhat friends. Plus, he liked to torment the newer staff members and make them do what he had already spent years doing. _Builds character,_ he would say, watching the new kid mop up his fifth spilt latté that morning.

Allie rushed out the door, thinking of calling an Uber but shook her head; she didn't have time to wait around for someone to pick her up. Trying her look, Allie walked along the footpath, phone in her hand and off silence in case Lisa called again before she spotted a lone taxi. Letting out a breath of relief, Allie moved quickly to snap it up, sliding into the back seat of the car and fumbling with her purse as she told the driver the address.

She tried once to call Lisa but was put through to voicemail and the terror that was threading itself through her muscles tightened, taking a hold of her heart as her thumbs stumbled across her keyboard, sending another text that Lisa did not reply to. _If this is you giving me a taste of my own medicine, it isn't funny, Leese._ She remained unanswered.

As she drew closer to home, Allie thought of all the different possibilities and scenarios; maybe Lisa had been brutally murdered, or maybe she was being held at gunpoint, maybe it was all a ruse and she was found out and –

"Here we are," said the driver, turning around to face her and pulling her from her thoughts. With a blink, Allie realised the car had stopped and she pulled the first note in her purse from its holdings, not really caring how much as she told the driver to keep it, which he seemed more than happy to do.

Her slammed against her chest, the brute force of it all making her think it was going to burst from behind her ribcage, the stampede of a thousand horses drumming against her fragile bone. Her palms grew slick and sweaty, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as she took the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator that didn't work half the time.

Would she find her friend dead? Dying? Hurt? It made her nearly cave in on herself as she found the door bearing the numbers of her home, unlocked and no sound coming from within. With a brief hesitation, an eternity of a moment, Allie threw open the door, chest heaving with the deep breaths she was dragging into her lungs, pooling and hoping to drown the panic.

There, sitting not ten feet away with the laptop opened up in front of her, was Lisa, dressed in Allie's sweats and the same top she had on that same morning, but her hair was a mess, eyes red and teeth gnawing on her nails. Their eyes met, and Allie slumped, the relief of it all flooding through her before her eyes narrowed.

"You give _me_ shit about not picking up my phone and then you do the same? You nearly put me into an early grave, Leese!" Allie exclaimed, less annoyed but more worried about the state her friend was in. Lisa shook her head, closing her eyes and burying her face into her hands and shoulders shaking. Whatever frustration that had been in Allie, slunk away and she moved down beside Lisa, not even remembering to take off her shoes and jacket.

"Oh, Al, I messed up! I screwed up so bad!" Lisa cried, voice muffled because of her hands and Allie placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to soothe Lisa as she wailed. Allie could only assume the worst; a dead family member who Lisa never made up with, accidentally spending too much money online, sending a horrid chain-mail to her co-workers and boss (again). It was enough to make Allie worry, trying to calm her friend in hopes of finding out what was ailing her.

"Hey, whoa, what happened?" Allie asked, voice soft and soothing as her eyes began searching her for any sign of injury, eyes flashing to the laptop in front of her, but it held nothing but a confirmation of a sent e-mail. Allie placed her other hand on Lisa's free shoulder, trying to turn her to face her but her friend resisted, preferring to sob into her hands and hide away from the world. "Leese, hey, listen to me: tell me what happened."

Allie grabbed her friend's hands from her face and pulled them away, forcing the other woman to face her completely, sniffling and nose pink. _She's definitely been crying for a while before I got here_ , Allie noted as Lisa tugged her sleeve over her hand, dragging it beneath her running and snotty nose as she slumped, staring glumly at the laptop that was whirring on the coffee table in front of them. Allie always felt they were too young for a coffee table – and none of them even drank coffee, but Lisa insisted it was for the _aesthetic_. Lisa's bottom lip wobbled, red and raw from being chewed on and she took a breath, as if trying to speak, but it caught in her throat and her voice croaked out.

"I… I went to make my resume and I pulled up one I made ages ago because I couldn't find the other one," Lisa explained, voice rough and rusty, as if she hadn't spoken in eons; Allie raised her eyebrows, indicating for her to continue her story as Lisa took another unsteady breath, gulping before she resumed. "I was making my e-mail and I guess I didn't save it properly because I sent… I sent the wrong resume to Pepper Potts!"

It took a moment for Allie to take in the words, blinking before she frowned at her inconsolable friend and shifted on the couch, glancing at the laptop screen that glared brightly thought the room. All other possibilities were dashed from her mind and all the fear and panic that had been consuming Allie left her in a rush, a sigh past her nose before she remembered the state her friend was in. "Oh, it couldn't have been that bad, Leese."

"It was from when I worked at _Chuck E. Cheese_!" Lisa wailed, falling into the couch cushions with a thumb, hand dangling over the edge of the couch and if it weren't for the muffled sobs, Allie would have assumed that Lisa had managed to suffocate herself, and she would have to break the news to her friend's parents their daughter died by living room aesthetic. Feeling almost awkward, and quite relieved that _this_ had been the emergency and not murder or kidnapping, Allie patted her friend's trembling back.

She knew Lisa was upset, was damn near hysterics as she was prone to be, but there was a smile tugging itself at the corner of her lips as she continued to comfort Lisa. _Friend first, teasing later_ , Allie chastised herself but couldn't quite take the voice seriously. Allie gave a cough to push away all the potential teasing she could have done and to force down the laughter in her throat.

"There, there, Lisa," Allie consoled, resting back against the couch. She still couldn't quite believe that this was what had made Lisa pull her from work; Lisa was inclined to the dramatics and, while amusing at times, could be draining at others. Well, at least she got off early from work, which wasn't too bad, even if Francis threatened her with clean up duty. With another, final pat to the back, Allie continued, quite tired and drained. "Maybe you can just send the right one and she'll never know."

At her words, Lisa flew up, hair wild and springing from the messy bun plopped on top her head, eyes wet and tears tracking down her friend's cheeks, the action so sudden that it made Allie start, eyes wide and unblinking at the sight of how much of a mess Lisa was. She was always someone who looked her best and seeing her… _not_ looking her best made her quite concerned. "No! This is my chance, Al! I have to get this perfect! I can't have her seeing that resume!"

Allie dropped her hand and a sigh bled past her lips, toes working to push the shoes still on her feet off. Her bones felt heavy, bogged down by a day of working and standing, hair a mess from where it sat tied back at the base of her neck. A nap was what she needed, a nap and maybe a cup of tea and another shower. Lisa gave another sniffle as Allie let out a breath that had been building up in her chest. "Leese, really, it'll be fine – "

Suddenly, Allie was grabbed by the collar of her jacket, pulled from her slump and into a rim-rod, back straightening seating position and her nose was pressed against Lisa's, the other woman looking almost furious, mischievousness lingering in the corners of her bloodshot eyes, Lisa's black curly hair was catching in Allie's eyelashes and she tried to blink the strands away, wide eyed at how serious her friend had gotten. Whatever weepiness that had cursed Lisa a few minutes ago, was now lifted and Allie could see the determination, could feel how tightly Lisa gripped to her coat, making Allie feel as if, at any given moment, her nails were going to tear through the material.

"Listen, I have one shot at this, Allie, _one shot_ , and I am _not_ messing this up. Not again, at least," Lisa seethed without the anger and Allie paused for a moment, listening to the other woman's heavy breathing before she slowly reached up to release herself from Lisa's grip, moving carefully so as to not spook her as she tugged herself free, eyes sharp and untrusting at Lisa's words.

"And how, pray tell, are you going to achieve that?"

Suddenly, the mischievousness made sense and Allie gulped, dread unfurling itself in her chest. There was a glint in Lisa's green eyes, a sharpness that Allie didn't quite like to see. Despite the red eyes, messy hair and wetness on her cheeks, Lisa seemed more together, more collected. "I think you mean, how are _you_ going to achieve that?"

Allie's eyebrows furrowed together briefly at Lisa's words, knotting together in confusion before her eyes darted to the laptop then back to Lisa's gleaming green eyes, her head giving a short curt nod as if to affirm Allie's thought. Allie's mouth dropped open, in shock and somewhat hurt, and she shook her head, brown wisps tickling her cheeks and forehead. She couldn't believe this, couldn't believe _her_ and the fact she expected Allie to – ! It was ridiculous, and Allie felt an anger boil in her veins, tingling beneath the thin, pale skin. Her jaw clenched, and Allie turned away, scoffing.

"No, _no_ , I'm not doing it, Lisa," Allie stated, refraining from using Lisa's nickname so as to show how serious she was. She did _not_ need this, did not leave during her last hour of work to help Lisa in her quite dreadful plan. Allie stood, slipping her bag off and shrugging out of her jacket, kicking her shoes beneath the coffee table, which was something she knew Lisa hated but she did it specifically to annoy her roommate. She wanted bed, tea and a shower, not this and she turned to leave the room when Lisa gave a shout of exclamation.

"Allie, _please_ , you know how much this means to me!" Lisa pleaded, her voice cracking and threatening to return back into her blubbering self as Allie draped the jacket over the back of the couch – another thing she knew the other girl hated. Allie gave a huff, turning to cross her arms over her chest, her blue eyes meeting with Lisa's emeralds. Her fingers drummed on her bicep, rolling her weight to one leg and assuming a rather disapproving stance, eyes narrowed.

"And you know what could happen, Lisa! It's just a hobby I do, and there's no guarantee that I could do it without getting caught!" Allie defended, feeling that annoyance prickle beneath her skin as it always did whenever this was brought up. It was a hobby, it hadn't been something she ever made a living out of. Her brother had done that, and she didn't want anything to do with him, or anything that would make her remember him because in the end, that's why she had picked it up.

She had been young and lonely, and her brother wasn't the worst in the family; when he wasn't there, she had missed him, and she found herself not missing him so much with numbers and codes. But this wasn't like the movies and there was only so many times she could get into the school's website before she grew bored.

Of course, she went above and beyond than what Allie should have; she was moving from harmless fun to slightly incriminating and then when life turned around, she decided that it wasn't fun anymore. And so, Allie left it in the dust, focusing on her future when her past crumbled behind her. She grew up and away from things like that; while it might not be the most dangerous thing in the world, or the most serious thing, it was something that Allie didn't want to do – when she was sober, at least.

It was all just a stupid game, but times were different now; governments were cracking down, there were people and companies who had state of the art security systems because everything was online now. Getting into places was getting trickier, even if she could do it. There was more security in the age of technology, with three step verifications and sending e-mails and notifications when people logged in on different devices.

"Allie, please," Lisa whispered, knotting her eyebrows together and voice dropping further. Tears were glimmering in her eyes. "Please, please, _please._ I know you can do it; remember two weeks ago? You did that, and you were _drunk_. I know you can do this, and it's just an email address, nothing serious. I hate myself for asking you this, and I know what could happen, but please, _please_ , just this once, this one time… I'm asking you to help a bitch in need."

Her ending words made a breathy laugh leave Allie and the corners of Lisa's lips turned upwards, the ghost of a watery smile appearing at the edges. Allie stared for a moment, unsure and taking a hold of her bottom lip again and trying to weigh the positives and negatives in her mind; she supposed that, worst comes to worst, they're not really going to do something bad to her just for deleting an email that contained a wrong resume.

Allie could do it, yes, but that didn't mean she _should._ It was Pepper Potts! She was the CEO of a massive corporation with superior technology and systems than what Allie was being asked to work on. For all she knew, all activity was being monitored at all times. She simply couldn't risk it, not risk her situation, for this, for Lisa. Allie's voice died, and Lisa shifted on the seat, tears in her eyes swelling even more. Allie wanted to scoff at the show but couldn't, she felt caught, trapped.

Taking her lip between her teeth, her eyes darted to the laptop, glaring at it as if it were a venomous snake, mouth wide open and awaiting for her to stick her hand in its jaw only for it to snap down. Maybe what happened two weeks ago was a fluke, or maybe they were waiting for to strike again; but why would they be snooping in Pepper Potts' email? They'd be more inclined to keeping the top secrets of the company, well, _secret._ No, _no,_ she couldn't believe she was actually thinking of doing it! What would happen if she got caught? What would happen if _they_ found out? It made her heart leap in her throat, swelling and choking her, breath unable to seep into her lungs. Allie knew the risks, knew that it was stupid and knew that she shouldn't.

But…

It was just one, small little e-mail and it wasn't even that serious! It was a stupid mistake she was deleting, nothing more, nothing less. She wouldn't even look at anything else just to be sure. It could be a simple get in and get out, type of situation. No one would ever have to know.

It was preposterous, ridiculous, _and Allie couldn't believe she was doing this_.

With a sigh, Allie pinched the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb in hopes of pushing away the headache that was nestling in her temples. _I'm such an idiot and I'm going to regret this._ Dragging in a deep breath, Allie let it pass through her lips before she gave a small nod of confirmation, pulling her gaze up to meet Lisa's hopeful one.

"Alright, _fine_. But I am _never_ doing anything like this _ever_ again," Allie snapped without much bite and Lisa let out a laugh of relief, slumping back into the couch as Allie began rooting around in her bag for her phone wire, slipping her phone from the pocket of her jacket as Lisa placed the laptop gently on her friend's knees, Allie letting out a grunt of thanks before she connected the two devices to one another.

"Have I ever mention you are the best friend ever in the entire world?" Lisa cooed next to Allie, not bothering to stop the large smile splitting across her face.

"Only when you need something," Allie retorted as she began to work, wincing at the brightness of the screen while straightening in the seat, wishing that she had worn her glasses. Lisa shuffled in closer, elbow resting behind on the back of the couch and her thumbnail clutched firmly between her teeth, a habit Allie knew was done out of nervousness.

Her leg began its involuntary shaking, as it usually did while Lisa watched her, eyes darting back and forth between the screen to Allie's face, as if awaiting the dreaded confirmation that Allie could not, in fact, get into Pepper Potts' email. But still, she worked, learning to lean back into the couch and a state that could be considered relaxation settled over her. In her mind, she knew she should have stopped, should have said _I'm not risking it, just apply for another job_. But she _couldn't_ , and Allie tried convincing herself that it wasn't that big of a deal, that she was blowing it all out of proportion and that _she_ was the one being dramatic. It was an e-mail, it wasn't as if she was stealing nuclear missile codes.

It wasn't hard, per say, but she felt the nervousness of it all tingle beneath her finger tips, so much different compared to last time from what she could remember. Last time, she had been drunk on the alcohol and on the buzz of proving herself, showing off and making them see that she was better than the Avengers. Then, it had taken her thirty-seven seconds and she could do it in less time sober, but she wasn't stupid, wasn't brave enough without the drink. Her teeth chewed on her cheek, causing it to dip in as her stomach began to ache for food. There was silence, complete and utter silence save for the clicking of her fingers on the keyboard and Lisa's, rather annoying, loud breathing. Once, her eyes flickered away to stare at the door and a fear enclosed her, one that made her think at any given moment the police and Pepper Potts herself were going to kick her door down and arrest her then and there.

But nothing happened; it all passed uneventfully, and Allie blinked as she paused in her typing, staring at the screen, her lack of movement pulling Lisa from her day dream and straighten with alarm.

"What? What is it? Did you not get in?" Her voice was high, sharp with worry and Allie opened her mouth once, twice, a third time before she dug her voice up from the base of her throat.

"I did it," she stated, half in disbelief, half in surprise. It wasn't that she didn't think she could do it (There was no doubt on God's green Earth that she could have) but still, Allie had expected it to be… somewhat _harder_ to sneak into Pepper Potts' email; the woman was a CEO of one of the biggest, if not _the_ biggest, companies in the world and it had taken less than half of an entire minute. She frowned, almost wishing there was a challenge before she shook her head at her idiocy; she should just be glad that she managed to get in without raising an alarm. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't stop Lisa as the other woman snatched the laptop from Allie's lap, frantic in her scrolling and not caring about anything else; the less Allie knew, the less the both of them knew, the better.

"There! I got it!" Lisa exclaimed, sagging with relief.

"Hurry and get rid of it, I want to get in and out as quickly as possible and I don't want to leave anything behind," Allie murmured, stretching her legs in front of her and moving to place her feet up on the coffee table before her heels slipped off the edge, causing her to pout; she always hated being too short to rest comfortably and Lisa would not allow her to pull the furniture closer.

"Ugh, look at this," Lisa groaned, shoving the screen back towards Allie. It took Allie's eyes a moment to focus, the pain behind them due to her glasses being buried somewhere in her room, and she snorted at the picture of Lisa, eighteen and pimpled, her black curly hair pulled hastily into a mess ponytail and her green eyes set beneath a pair of thin eyebrows. The grin she wore was crooked and the braces gleamed back at the camera. Beside the picture, lay the basic information of Lisa ( _My name is Lisa Jane Turner and I like to think of myself as an excellent worker!)_ , all done in a rather unprofessional font. Comic Sans, always the worst.

"Yikes, now I see why you wanted to delete it," Allie snorted, and Lisa clicked her tongue, settling back into her seating position and placing her feet on the table, making Allie narrow her eyes. _Show off._

"I'm just going to delete the Hell out of this and make sure this picture never sees the light of day ever again," Lisa murmured to herself, all previous weeping and sniffling forgotten as she clicked the delete button, clicking on the trash to make doubly sure it was gone from the inbox and crisis averted.

With a huff, she handed the laptop back to Allie to finish off, not caring to watch her anymore as she logged off, brain too tired to think properly anymore or even care. She yanked the wire from the laptop and felt relieved that everything was done and dusted. She placed the laptop on the table, closing the screen shoot and the two were no longer bathed in the artificial, blinding light and a collective sigh left the both of them, all worry and crying forgotten.

The two sat in silence for the moment, Lisa slumped with her legs up on the coffee table, Allie slumped and her feet sitting awkwardly on the ground.

"Leese?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't get this job, I will personally send that to every potential employer or boyfriend that ever comes your way."

* * *

"Rhodey, you're not listening – "

"I am, Tony, I am listening."

"No, you're not, because if you were, you wouldn't keep cutting me off and you would have heard me say no to painting my armour red, white and blue."

"I'm just saying, some good publicity is needed after the whole Sokovia thing."

"The whole Sokovia thing? You mean when the evil robot nearly destroyed an entire city by lifting it off the ground and into the air and killing dozens of people?"

"Yes, _that_ thing."

"And you plan to solve the bad publicity… by having me show up for a Fourth of July parade with not only my suit painted red, white and blue, but to have fireworks installed?"

"It'll give you something to work on! And I don't want to do it by myself."

"Sorry, you're breaking up! I'm going through a tunnel!"

"You said you were at a café!"

"I am and it's under a tunnel! Bye, Rhodey!"

The line closed, and Tony let out a small breath that had been building up for quite some time; his hands were stained with oil and the rag he wiped his palms on was doing more damage than good; with a sigh, he tucked it atop of his shoulder, leaning back in the chair he had been perched on, staring up at the ceiling.

He knew Rhodey meant well, he did, and Sokovia had been a complete and utter shitshow, to say the least. It weighed on Tony, weighed on his conscience, his heart, dragging it down, down, down into that pit of guilt that had been bubbling away for the past seven years. It was acidic, burning his insides away and soon he was going be just like his suit: empty on the inside.

His face scrunched up, knowing the path that his thoughts were leading him down and he turned away, twirling on the chair to tuck his legs beneath the desk in order to face his computer; Sokovia was still very much in the news, despite it being over two months and Tony had been pooling his money and time into the cleaning up effort and the excavation of sites. It was the least he could do after Ultron, after destroying a lot of lives in such a small space of time.

His head hurt, that headache beneath his eyes burning and chiselling away at his skull as he stared at the screen, the brightness too high for him; the workshop was beneath the Compound, far away from the living quarters and all other sections of the place. It was for him and him only, to work in, sleep in, hide away in, always perfecting his suits. It had a strictly no visitors policy – save Rhodey and Happy.

Pepper didn't visit.

She never did.

The cold cup of coffee lay beside his hand as he drummed his fingers on the work top; it was late in the evening, even the sun could pass through the small windows Tony had installed and it was leaking through, orange and gold fingers catching on everything. He hadn't slept, and it was taking a toll on him; some nights were easy, others… not so much.

He liked to keep busy, liked to fiddle and tinker with whatever he could get his hands on. The other Avengers, save Thor, kept themselves in the living quarters, none being brave to venture into Tony's personal space, though Natasha had gotten in once or twice just to make sure he hadn't died without anyone noticing. It made him laugh and sometimes he would crawl from the workshop, eyes squinting and looking worse for wear to join the others. He tried not to be unnerved by Wanda, tried not to think of how he saw his friends dying and the universe consumed by all nothingness, a blackness shoving itself down his throat with slimy fingers and strangling him, a noose. Sometimes, she smiled and didn't seem so frightening.

But, he had it under control, it was all under –

"Boss."

Tony gave a sigh, once again twirling in his chair to smile at no one in particular, knowing that the AI had eyes on him at all time. He was quite thankful, really; he didn't want to go down the road of his thoughts again – save that for the nights when he couldn't sleep.

"Yes, my dear?"

"There's been another breach."

Now _that_ was interesting.

Tony perked up, straightening in his chair as he dug his phone out. "Where, here? S.H.I.E.L.D? Stark Indus – "

"It was Ms. Potts' personal email."

Tony felt his heart slam in his throat, everything pulling to a screeching halt and whatever had lingered of his playful mood was dashed away, a frown tugging his lips down. There was a coil winding its way around his chest, choking his lungs and making it feel he was too small to fit all his thoughts inside his head as he began to push his phone back into his pocket. "And why, pray tell, am I being notified and not Ms. Potts?"

"Because you stated that you wanted to notified of another attempt made by the same person who breached security last time."

Ah.

That did make sense.

"You also wished to be notified at any time if Ms. Potts' safety was in danger."

Tony pursed his lips before he stopped tucking his phone away, reluctantly looking at the screen. It lit up, none too harsh on his poor eyes. "And is it the same person?"

"I could not trace the location last time, but they have used the same wired accessory. I have managed to trace the address. Shall I send it to you?"

Tony stared at the screen, quite curious about the whole situation. The last breach had resulted in absolutely nothing to be concerned about – from his point of view anyway. No information had been taken, it had lasted a total of twenty-eight seconds before all trace had vanished.

What concerned him more was at the rate the person had taken to get in; thirty-seven seconds to get by and get in, thirty-seven seconds to put Tony Stark's security to shame. Maybe it was because he was embarrassed at being upstaged, or maybe it was because no one had brought it to his attention, but nothing had been said of the breach at all so it seemed that only Tony and F.R.I.D.A.Y knew of the situation. And this time, it had taken them less than half a minute.

Nothing had been taken, nothing had been scanned or stolen and it made Tony, undoubtedly, _curious_. He leaned back in his chair, finger tapping on the back of his phone as her pursed his lips; while a chance of whoever this person was being high dangerous was there, it could also just be someone playing games with him. He had done it enough when he was younger, testing the boundaries and doing all it took before he finally got caught, before he got some form of attention.

F.R.I.D.A.Y remained silent, waiting for his reply that she most likely knew. The past few months had been filled with court briefings and paper work and watching the news and seeing so much death and devastation to the point he through the T.V would burst at the seams with it. This… this seemed _almost_ harmless compared to what he had faced before. And he was running out of distractions for the past few days.

Tony thought for a moment, weighing the positives against the negatives before he tossed them both out the window.

"Sure, why not. I needed a day out anyway."

* * *

 ** _This is set in a world where there are spaceships; who cares if breaking into security through ~hacking~ isn't done in the right way?_**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	3. Chapter Two

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two.**_

"Lisa Jane Turner, I swear to God, if you've taken yet _another_ pair of my jeans – "

There was a sound of over dramatically played hurt and shock from outside Allie's room at her words. "I most certainly have not!"

Allie was currently at the back of her wardrobe, covered by the clothes she had pulled from the dust of the darkness where they had sat for God knows how long; she was pretty sure there were stuff she had bought when she was sixteen – and _that_ had been backin 2006, meaning that it was far from being acceptable by today's fashion standards. She rolled back onto her legs, feet tucked under her as her hair lay in disarray around her, glasses pushed up to keep the brown, soft curls from falling into her face and catching on her eyelashes.

Normally, Allie wouldn't be in such a rush to get in at an earlier time for work, but after having left before the usual time she finished yesterday (for absolutely _nothing,_ she might add), she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt tug at her heart and, thus, she had gotten up a half hour early to get in just that bit earlier, knowing that Francis would be opening up shop and starting the morning clean down. She hoped that helping him would result in her wheedling herself back into his good books; Allie knew he wasn't really upset about her bouncing out but part of her was still unsure if he had been serious about her being on clean up duty for an entire _week_ ; she could not and would not handle the thought of cleaning the bathroom stalls as she used to back in her trainee days.

With a huff, Allie got to her feet, wincing at the feeling of her legs waking up, tingling beneath the skin and blood rushing as her toes wriggled in her socks. The alarm clock, half covered by a blue stained ceramic mug, blinked, red dripping to form 8:39. Clicking her tongue, Allie began to push all that was spilled out onto the floor back into her closet unceremoniously, foot catching on an assortment of fabrics and clothes before they lay in an unorganised heap in the back of her closet, appearing bloated and falling over one another in an assortment of limbs made up of empty arms and legs. _That'll be fun to clean up later,_ Allie remarked before she quite hastily shut the door to her closet, pausing to see if it would all tumble out then turning to grab the hair brush on her beg, dropping her glasses so that they sat on the bridge of her nose while running the bristles through her strands.

"What do they look like?" Lisa hollered from the other room, the T.V kept at a low volume as she crunched down on the somewhat stale _Special K_ that she had announced that she had found lurking at the back of a cupboard. Allie was pretty certain that the cereal had been there when they moved in, but she wasn't going to tell Lisa that, call it pay back for always stealing her clothes, or what you will.

For all her friend's cleanliness (well… she was better at keeping things cleaner than Allie was and her room was a sure sign of that), it seemed that keeping things clean didn't extend to the washing – despite the fact that Allie had quite clearly stated for the past few days that it was her turn to do the washing and the pile of clothes laying in the basket wasn't getting any smaller. As per their agreement when the two decided to move in together, the chores were swapped around every week and Allie knew that Lisa would do her part – sooner or later.

Most likely being _much_ later.

Allie finished brushing through her hair, using her fingers to comb the long tresses upwards so that they rested atop of her head while she searching for a hair tie. _An apartment with only girls and we can never seem to find a hair tie._

"They're black, have tiny flowers embroidered into them along the seams," Allie called out, eyes finally spying a rather worn out hair tie hid snug beneath her bedside table, and bent scooping it up as her arm holding her hair began to ache from being held up for some time. "They're high waisted and have roses on the pockets."

There was no answer from outside her room and Allie decided that she would just have to wear the only other pair of clean pants she had, the rest sitting in a pile to be washed.

"Oh."

Allie straightened, finishing tying her hair into a mess on top of her head, wisps slipping free around her hairline as she padded to her half open door, peering out into the room where Lisa was sitting, her bowl of cereal laying soggy and forgotten. Sure enough, Lisa was indeed wearing her pair of pants and Allie's eyes sharpened into tiny dots as Lisa gave a sheepish grin, standing to unzip the pants and push them down her legs before tossing them over to Allie. Had this not been a daily occurrence, Allie might have laughed.

"Okay, _maybe_ it is time I did the washing," Lisa offered, turning to sit back down as Allie pushed her legs into the jeans, tugging them up until she fastened the button, satisfied as they sat above her hips, ends rolled up above her ankles.

"You think?" Allie snorted, darting back into her room to grab a hold of her bag and jacket, not taking a chance with the weather as she knew that at any given moment, the skies could open up and the heavens would start pouring. She perched on the edge of the bed, shoving her feet into her very worn out pair of shoes, tugging at her socks when they became caught before she slipped her coat on, bag on her shoulder and pocketed her phone, gloomy at the fact it had not charged during the night and the battery was now edging itself closer to being less than fifty percent.

Satisfied that she was all ready for the day ahead of her, Allie turned to leave, closing her bedroom door while patting her pockets and rummaging in her bag to check if she had everything; her plug had broken some time ago and she had been using the laptop to charge her phone and Allie was in dismay at the fact she would have to fork out money, _yet again_ , simply because she couldn't walk properly on her own two feet and just had to spill her drink all over the plug. For all Lisa's insistence that Allie was a, quote unquote, _tech whiz_ , she couldn't actually fix something that had been damaged by water and she had to pay out money just like everybody else to replace her things.

"Damn, you seeing this?" Lisa whistled, turning Allie's attention towards her and reaching over to grab a hold of the remote that lay discarded on the table in front of her as she began clicking on the volume button, turning it so that Allie could hear it. "They've been reporting on Sokovia and the situation."

Briefly, Allie paused in her steps, pushing her glasses up her nose so that she would be able to see more clearly and moving to stand behind the couch to watch the scene as it played out on the news; it was the same set up as it had been for the past two months: buildings decimated, women and men looking utterly lost and fearful, children crying with tears running down their dust marked faces. This segment seemed more focused on the clean-up of the place – clean-up, as if it was such a simply mess that one could push away and never think of.

It made Allie grimace, wanting to turn away from it because it was hard to watch, it always was, and the media never shied away from showing the brutality of the situation, of how saving the world came at great human expense. All over the internet were people trying to speak up, trying to be heard as they called for help in finding their lost parents, children, husbands and wives but their cries fell on deaf ears. Their fifteen minutes of fame were up as soon as someone with a more tragic story came along; the story couldn't be ignored and was being pelted at the public from angles. She couldn't go on Facebook or Twitter without people debating and arguing like it was something that they could weigh their opinion in on. It was being used as fodder for the news and media alike for the past two months ever since it happened, and it didn't get easier any time it was shoved in front of her.

Allie didn't like to think of a world outside of her own, didn't want to think of those people stuck beneath bricks and buildings, trapped and dying but lying forgotten because _the rest of the world had been saved_. She couldn't afford to think of those people, she had to think of herself and her own life, what it took to get here, to get to safety and that small part of her, that part of her Allie had to bury when she was so young and shoved so cruelly into the _real_ world cried, wondering when she had lost her humanity, her empathy, for the sake of survival. A coil of self-disgust slithered around her heart, making a lump dig itself into the base of her throat, becoming bloated. Her eyes were glued to the screen, watching as videos played of the incident in Sokovia, of how the city was torn, ripped from the ground and one poor soul managed to capture it, hands shaking and shouting in some unknown language and trying to run away before they were consumed by concrete, dust and blackness.

Allie turned away from the T.V screen, not being able to stomach it for much longer. It made her palms slick, hands shaking beside her before she curled her fingers in towards her palm, fists clenched at her side; moving towards the fridge, Allie went to grab the lunch she had made the night before and shoved it in her bag, hoping that it would be enough to curb her hunger later as she decided to skip breakfast that morning, partly because there was no time and because her hunger had subsided after being forced to witness what had played out on the T.V. Lisa, sighing, flicked through the channels, deciding to sit back and watch a much lighter choice of morning T.V watching instead of the news, settling re-run of _Friends_ for the moment instead of getting to the laundry, as she had promised.

Allie pulled her coat around her tighter, hands in her pockets as her zipper pressed into her skin, grasping a hold of the handle to the door before turning around.

"I'll see you later," Allie called as she went to leave the apartment. "Make sure to get the laundry done; and don't call or text me unless you're dying or dead!"

There was a brief shout of acknowledgement and a farewell before Allie closed the door behind her, patting her bag for her keys, satisfied with the returned jangle of metal at her action. _Just one step at a time, one day at a time._

* * *

"I can't believe that when you said I was going to be on clean up duty, that you _actually_ meant it," Allie stated, somewhat in disbelief and glaring at the mop that had been thrusted into her hand not moments before. Her nose scrunched up, crinkling, as she held it away from her, not wanting to smell the remnants of previous spills from years before hand; for all she knew, it was older than _her._ Francis stood in front of her, arms crossed and looking a bit too amused for Allie's liking.

As per her planning, Allie had arrived early and had begun the usual wipe down of everything, trying to make up for the previous day and it seemed Francis was going to let it be swept under the rug, that is, of course, until he had dug out this monstrosity after some poor, butter fingered business woman had dropped her drink while trying to balance her phone, wallet and cup, spilling across the floor and splashing the legs of anyone in proximity.

It was late in the afternoon, not long after her break, and Allie had refrained from sneaking into the back to check on her phone, as she was sometimes prone to do. Today, it was just her, Francis, Kyle and some other newbie, a girl who had started working there a month ago and who seemed so nervous that Allie was sure that she was going to pass out at any given moment. Allie sympathised with the girl and couldn't help but remember how she had been when she first started; crowds had never been her forte and it had been hard in the beginning, sometimes she would have to escape to regain her breath, heart shuddering and shattering her chest as she tried to recollect her thoughts and scattered self. Allie hadn't had an anxiety attack in nearly two years, but she could still vividly remember how they felt and the feeling was something Allie didn't want to experience again any time soon.

She felt tired having used up all her energy for the morning and was quite happy to spend the rest of her day filling out orders, to be lost in her own daydream of home and bed and _sleep_ while moving and working on muscle memory alone. Allie had lost a lot of sleep growing up and was prepared to make up for it with every waking moment – or, rather, every sleeping moment.

At her words, Francis tilted an eyebrow, freeing an arm around his chest to motion her forward to the cut off area. Customers were warded off from the small spill zone by a simple wet floor sign but even despite it, some were still idiotic enough to step in it, dragging their feet and making the mess even worse.

"When was the last time you've spent a day on clean up duty?" he asked, brown eyes sparkling and clearly not as serious as he would have been had it been literally anyone else, his tone not harsh as a manager's should have been and not making Allie scamper off to deal with the problem as she would have had she been new. Having known the man for half a decade and being the second oldest on staff, with Francis being the eldest, the two were thick as thieves at work and knew that one would never be able to take the other seriously. Allie screwed up her face, pulling the handle of the broom close and placing both hands on it, weight resting against it while her chin sat atop of her enclosed hands, as if seriously thinking about it while her glasses dangled from the front of her shirt.

"I don't know," she replied, giving a small shrug and a smile. "How long ago was 2012?"

Francis let out a bark of laughter, reaching over to give her a hearty slap on the shoulder, nearly knocking the broom out from under her in surprise and almost making her stumble before Allie caught herself, glaring at her manager through her eyelashes while making sure her glasses were safely secured on the front of her shirt.

"Well, someone's gotta do it," Francis laughed, voice like a singsong and teasing her, causing that tilt in Allie's lip to quirk up further.

"You, my dear sir, are _absolutely_ right," Allie said, standing up straight as Francis murmured that he quite liked the sound of being called _sir_. Allie turned, eyes searching as the tip of her tongue slipped from her lips as she was prone to do when she was concentrating. Then, she spotted a mass head of faded pink curls wiping down a table in the far corner – though, Allie was pretty sure that it had already been done an hour ago and not a single customer had sat at it yet. "Hey! New girl!"

At the words, said new girl perked up, eyes wide behind her glasses and cheeks stained with blotches of pink; Allie motioned her forward and Francis gave a snort as Allie kept that same shark like smile on her face. The girl was soft spoken and had trouble keeping her hands still, always wringing them in front of her or twisting a cloth between her fingers. Allie gave a glance down at the girl's nametag where _Kerri_ glinted back, sunlight catching on the metal and winking at her. Kerri's hesitant and ever ready to comply brown eyes darted from Francis to Allie, as if afraid that she was going to be reprimanded. Once again, Allie felt that sympathy rise in her as she felt her smile soften on her face.

"Hey, Kerri, would you mind cleaning up the spill out there? It's really important that it's gone as soon as possible," Allie said, voice low and almost apologetic, gentle so as to not sound harsh to the girl or like she was giving orders. Instantly at her words, Kerri perked up, face relaxing and showing just how relieved the girl was at realising her worst fear of being reprimanded hadn't happen nor that she hadn't been shouted at or given out to.

"Uh, sure thing! That's no problem!" Kerri quipped, round face breaking into an awkward grin, beaming as she took the mop from Allie's hands, all too happy to comply as she walked off, shoulders sagging as Allie felt something smack her arm, making her turn as she saw Francis giving her a faux look of disapproval but she could see the remnants of a smirk lingering.

"You're _horrible_."

"I remember _you_ making me do far worse when I first started," Allie scoffed, wiping her hands on the front of her apron before she picked up her glasses from where they hung on the front of her shirt, checking for smudges on the glass before placing them on the bridge of her nose, pushing them up so that they sat comfortably where they were placed and the pain in her eyes subsided slightly. Despite how completely and utterly annoying glasses could be, Allie always felt squeamish at the thought of putting something in her eyes and couldn't handle the thought of contact lenses. The mere suggestion of them made Allie shudder. Plus, her eyesight wasn't so bad that she needed to wear them all the time, mostly if she just wanted to watch T.V but she had spent the day trying to squint in order to see better and it had taken its toll on her. And it didn't help that it hurt to wear her glasses when she was trying to work on things up close, so Allie always ended up flipping her glasses up and down throughout the day.

"I wasn't _that_ bad," Francis insisted, leaning against the counter, eyes watching the lingering customers, particularly so the group of kids in the corner that had been nursing their drinks for the past hour. Allie gave a snort, mimicking Francis' stance opposite him, taking the time to roll her ankles, wriggling her toes as she stretched to banish the stiffness and aches of her bones. What she wouldn't give for a nice six-hour nap.

"Fran, I still have a scar on my thumb from the time you told _me_ to clean each piece of a broken glass when _you_ were the one who dropped it," Allie deadpanned, still remembering how she had spent an hour doing as she was told until Francis had walked into the back room searching for her, quite shocked and in disbelief that she was still doing what he had told her to do until he revealed that he hadn't actually been serious. It had made her embarrassed and so red faced she thought she would erupt into flames, smouldering into nothing but ash.

Francis _tsk_ ed his tongue and pursed his lips.

"Okay, _maybe_ I was kind of mean. Just maybe," he relented, and Allie gave a breathy laugh, reaching up to tuck away the strands and wisps of hair that had fallen from her slumped bun which had been sluggishly moved from the top of her head to the back of her crown, the soft brown curls spilling and bursting free. Normally, her hair wouldn't be as bad, but because she hadn't taken the time to brush through it yesterday and had slept with it knotted atop of her head, the strands had become nothing but kinks and strange shaped knots.

The day was going slow, even for a Wednesday, and Allie almost missed when it was busy, then she wouldn't have stand around feeling as if she was doing nothing as time trickled by painfully. Kyle was in the back on his lunch break and the T.V was nearly muted above them, but she could still hear the small murmur of voices from the speakers, making sure that the place wasn't so filled with nothingness and silence.

"Hey, I know it's none of my business," Francis began, voice that bit lower and he gave a short, small cough, bringing Allie's attention back to him. "But yesterday… is everything okay?"

Allie felt the frown dig its way across her face, but she let out a breath, reaching behind her to take a hold of a neatly folded napkin, unravelling it in her hands and picking at it at the corners, dropping the pieces into a pile on the counter beside her. While Francis didn't know everything about her, Allie knew he wasn't an untrustworthy type. He meant well, he truly did, but she figured there were some things that were best kept secret and just weren't blurted out to everyone she knew. It had taken years of friendship with Lisa for Allie to tell her about her life and that was even when they were _living_ together.

"Just… Lisa trouble, you know how it is, "Allie lied, disliking the words and how they felt on her tongue, tasting of bitterness. "She got in trouble over something at work and needed help and it worked out."

Francis gave a hum, eyes watching her as she picked away at the napkin and depositing the waste beside her. Despite having known him for nearly five years, there was a line of being friends and being co-workers that Allie couldn't cross, couldn't afford to cross. She could tell that Francis knew she wasn't saying everything, that she was lying straight to his face, but he didn't push and prod her for the truth and for that, Allie was grateful. There were just some things Allie would have to carry with her for her entire life without another soul knowing to the day she died. Shuffling on her feet, Allie straightened her back and faced Francis again, a forced small smile on her face.

"So, how are you and the boyfriend? You never told me about him."

Despite being a clear attempt of changing the subject, at her words, Francis' cheeks turned a darker shade of pink, scarlet beneath brown parchment as he didn't bother fighting the smile that made its way on his face. It hurt her heart to see how completely and utterly lovestruck the man was. She remembered how he told her that he had only had one previous partner and when that had turned out to a complete and utter shitshow when it ended, he had been convinced that he would never find love again. Flash forward to three months later and he already had a new boyfriend. "He's fine, we're fine. Getting along good."

Allie gave a grunt, scrunching the napkin up in her hand until it was a ball in her palms and threw it at Francis' forehead, causing the older man to blink in surprise and be pulled from his thoughts. "That's the face of someone who's in love, not the face of someone in a _fine_ relationship."

"Okay, and what about you? Any secret boyfriend or gentleman caller you have hidden away that we don't know about?" Francis teased, bending down to scoop the deformed napkin in his hand and to throw it back at Allie, hitting her shoulder and nearly falling to the ground before she managed to take a hold of it, rolling it back and forth between her palms briefly before placing it down beside her small pile of torn pieces of the paper towel.

"Please, I haven't had a boyfriend or any _gentleman caller_ since I was 20," Allie sniffed, not at all too bothered by the revelation. The last boy she had the _privy_ of being in a relationship had been her age and was not what one could consider being boyfriend material; if she remembered correctly, he had been far too immature for her liking and was a complete and utter slob. Not to mention he had been a one and done kind of guy in the bedroom and her first sex experience had been her worst sex experience and it never improved during the brief few weeks she had been with him. She had managed to break it off after two painful months and she still cringed when she remembered how hard he had cried.

"That's… a long dry spell," Francis whistled, eyebrows raised in surprise. Allie gave a small shrug, almost somewhat bothered that her lack of sex seemed something to pity.

Truth be told, she had never been interested in that area and only indulged out of curiosity and she never revolved her life around it when she had been at college. It hadn't bothered her growing up (she had much more important things to focus on than boys and sex), yet sometimes she wondered if her one and only terrible relationship had knocked her off the lookout for love. In the five years that Allie had known Lisa, the other girl went through a total of four boyfriends, some lasting longer than others. Not to mention Lisa had made it her sworn purpose in life to set Allie up on blind dates earlier on in their friendship before she realised that her friend had little to no interest in pursuing the men offered to her.

 _You're young, you have time,_ Lisa would comfort Allie whenever she would come home from another date, alone and still looking as prim and proper as she had left. Allie didn't feel like she had time, she felt as if her life was a ticking bomb and everything was going to explode in her face. There was no time for dating, for boys and love and sex; it was just something she couldn't risk. One day, maybe far into the future, she hoped for a tiny sliver of domesticity, to finally be able to _breathe_ and not worry about everything being uprooted at a moment's notice. But, that was for another time to daydream about and Allie simply gave another lift of her shoulders in response to Francis' statement.

"You know me, just waiting for the right sugar daddy to spend the rest of his short life with."

Francis gave a small bout of laughter when a voice from the staff room called out.

"Hey, Allie, your phone's ringing!"

A deep sigh was forced through her nose as she shook her head; despite the fact she did have some battery left, Allie wasn't going to risk opening her phone screen and then having it die on her. Plus, she knew _exactly_ who was calling, even though she had made it clear to not make any contact throughout her day at work. Francis gave an amusing disapproving look at Allie as she tried to pull an innocent look before she turned back to call out to Kyle.

"Just ignore it! Do me a favour and turn it off!" Her voice felt too loud for the quiet place and a few faces turned to look at her, making her cheeks burn briefly in embarrassment before she turned back to work, sweeping the discarded napkin and the torn off pieces into the bin as the door opened, bell ringing and tingling gently to notify them of a new customer. Francis gave her a small smile before he departed, one that she new to be a _here we go again_ look whenever someone entered, unsure if they would be the customer from Hell or someone who would be, shockingly, pleasant.

Allie took a deep breath, recollecting herself before she pushed that forced smile that hurt her cheeks back onto her lips for show.

"Hi! What can I get for you today?"

* * *

Just as Allie predicted, tufts of clouds were beginning to trek across the baby blue sky, puffs of white and grey etched into the backdrop and nearly swallowing the sun. Her eyes narrowed, and she zipped up her coat, her barista uniform hidden, and the wind prevented from attacking whatever sliver of skin that was bare.

To say she was dead on her feet was an understatement; Allie remembered how much her back and feet ached when she had first begun, nearly keeling over after spending three hours on her feet with not being able to have a five-minute sit down. It had taken a while to get used to, but she had done it and now, only the balls of her feet ached slightly as she began to walk home, toes wiggling in her shoes and making her step awkwardly, but no one paid any heed to her. Despite growing up in the middle of nowhere, where most of her neighbours were cows and sheep, Allie had, to her surprise, become used to the city life; she had grown fond of the lights and the noises, the car horns and the large crowds that were so easy to get lost in.

But, it had been hard at first.

The shoving and pushing of shoulders and hands had made her anxious, had made her heart clench and palms slick with sweat, unable to breathe as she was suffocated by people who gave her no second glance, no second thought. It made her feel that, at any given moment, she was going to be swept away, nothing left behind for people to remember her by. She couldn't handle how _loud_ and _close_ the people were, not being shy to come up to her and try to talk or sell her something and it had made her throat closed up, air sucked from her lungs and making her feel there was not enough space in the world to regain her breath.

Allie had been eighteen and had no one, no friends or family, was picked up and dropped into a foreign, strange country, back pocket filled with money and a legal status as a citizen. Allie should have been grateful, should have been ready to start a new life but all she could think about back then was how strange the people were with their accents and their way of living and how _much_ she missed home, a hole digging itself in where her heart should have been.

Her hands curled into fists in her pocket, nails biting into her palm and her chin found its way tucked into the collar of her coat, the cold of the zipper pressing against the skin; Allie felt a knot in her stomach tighten, pulling and gripping her in place at the memory of home, of Ireland. The worst time of her life had been when she had first came here, when she had been so alone. Allie never thought that someone could ever die from homesickness, but it had felt so real, so palpable that she wondered about who was going to bury her if she died. But she hadn't; she had survived and managed to build up a somewhat comfortable life for herself.

But that didn't mean she didn't miss her real home.

She missed the green fields and stone walls, how every place had a second name, the summers that lasted for two weeks and the winters that lasted for much longer. She missed the people, she missed not having to repeat herself because someone couldn't understand what she was saying. She missed the smell of fresh air, of being able to take a lungful of it without spluttering and coughing.

Allie sometimes entertained the thought of going home, of throwing caution to the wind and hopping on the next plane back to Ireland and never looking back. But she couldn't, she knew she couldn't. Here, she was secure, _safe_ and she had friends, had people who cared about her. Maybe it was the memory of place that made her miss it more.

Taking a breath to untangle the knot in her heart, Allie scattered all thoughts of home from her mind, blinking and recollecting herself as she tried to refocus on the present, not wanting to lose herself to the past; the _now_ of the present was filled with living, breathing people whom she loved and who loved her and the _then_ of the past was filled with old bones and skeletons she had buried and there was no use digging them up if they were only going to drag her back down.

Things had started to get better when she had met Lisa; it had been such a coincidence, such a fleeting chance that if they had not met then, they would never have met. Before the job she held, she would work odd jobs, nothing too serious to settle down in. The panic of having to leave again made her not want to grow roots – _just in case_ , she would always say to herself. It had been at one of her jobs that Lisa had wriggled herself into Allie's life. Allie was near to finishing up, wiping down the sticky tables and picking up stray glasses left behind by people and Lisa had been working in a corner, typing away on her laptop with her face scrunched up, crease digging itself between her eyebrows in frustration.

Allie had simply gone up to tell Lisa that she needed to move as it was getting late and Allie needed to wipe down the tables.

That was what was supposed to happen.

Instead, Allie had spent the next half hour talking to a complete stranger as she fixed her computer, the other girl going on a rant about work and school and how _done_ she was with it all. Allie hadn't meant to do it, but Lisa was just someone who attracted people to her. And she had been nice and not made fun of Allie's accent so that instantly put the other girl into Allie's good books. They had spent a few months talking and strengthening their friendship when they found out, to the surprise of both, that they were attending the same college, albeit different classes.

There days where Allie couldn't imagine her life without her friend, without her family; she didn't even want to think about the life she might had led had the two never met. It probably would have been sad, filled with loneliness and most likely alcoholism.

A soft muffled roll of thunder from above wrenched Allie from her thoughts, her feet pausing as her gaze turned upwards, squinting at the dull, hazy light of the sun that was trapped behind the dark, rumbling clouds that were stretching themselves across the world, nearly bursting with the promise of rain. Exasperated at her weather predictions coming true, Allie further pulled her coat up so that the collar rested beneath her nose, head ducked down with eyes cast to the pavement as the metal of the zipper pressed impressions above her lip.

Allie rushed to get home, not wanting to linger in her thoughts any longer as a few pedestrians that passed her murmured about the bad weather, while others gave frightful glances to the sky, wondering and fearing about the thought of an attack on humanity once more. Allie took notice of the few people, mainly those with children hanging from their arms, dashing quickly into coffee shops and fast food restaurants, much to the delight of their kids who knew nothing of the potential threat that was always present outside of Earth. Allie tried not to think of how ludicrous aliens and monsters and gods were ten years ago and how now, the entire world was filled to the brim with them, nearly bursting at the seams and threatening to overflow.

Tiny droplets fell around her, shattering and staining the pavement to a dark grey as a few raindrops caught themselves in her hair, latching on for dear hope before slipping down and being consumed by her coat. There was a promise of coldness, the teeth of Autumn just about present towards the end of June and sinking into her exposed skin; Allie gave a sniffle, quickening her pace and throwing glances left and right when crossing the street and giving a small wave to a driver when she was allowed to pass, the habit of doing so never leaving her throughout all these years. Part of her – the part currently getting more soaked by the second – wished to call for a taxi, but the jangling of loose change in the bottom of her purse seemed to mock the idea, pushing her to continue her brisk walk home as she hoped that she wouldn't wake up the next morning to a blocked nose and a head stuffed with cotton and pain.

By the time she neared the apartment building, her hair was on the verge of being completely drenched as her walk quickened into a jog, feet no longer caring to dodge the pooling puddles on the side walk. All that mattered to her was getting home as quickly as possible, changing into a pair of dry, clean clothes (if Lisa had finally decided to get the washing done for once) and nursing a cup of tea between her aching and stiff fingers. Allie didn't give a second glance as she crossed the road to get to the building, eyes downcast and letting out a shaky breath to warm herself, feeling it rush down her top and sleeves; she narrowly missed knocking herself into a car parked in front of the building, just about dodging it at last minute, stumbling over herself as she glared at the vehicle from behind. It was sleek and black, sticking out like a sore thumb against the less than pleasing to the eye building if was parked in front of and Allie was half tempted to give it a right good kick at nearly causing her to trip over before she spied a driver through the window, watching her with hawk like eyes and Allie dropped her gaze down again, rushing inside and not bothering to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine at the feeling of being out of the cold.

Her entire face felt somewhat numb, tingling from the chilliness that was seeping in through the crack beneath the door and Allie took her hands from her pockets, stretching her fingers and knotting them together to bring her arms over her head, satisfied at hearing a bone pop as she relaxed, bringing a hand to tug the hair tie that was keeping her slumped bun in place, freeing the damp brown tresses to fall down over her shoulders, heavy with the rain but already dripping dry. Everything seemed to ache, and Allie eyed the stairs with a glare, deciding to opt for the elevator and pray that it would finally work. Her shoes left shining foot prints behind her as she walked, glinting in the grey sunlight that was pouring in through the windows, each step leaving behind less of a mess than the first.

Allie pressed the button, giving another sniff as she dug around for the keys to her apartment, unsure if Lisa was home or not; the elevator slowly, but surely descended, and Allie's stiff fingers tried to grasp a hold of the key chain, jiggling the bag to catch a sound of the metal keys. Her fingers ghosted over them and she took a hold of the keys before she felt her phone brush up against the back of her hand. She had been in such a rush to leave work that she hadn't even remembered to turn her phone back on in order to check what it was that Lisa wanted.

A rumble from within the elevator paused its descent and Allie watched, scowling as it remained stuck at level 3. _So close, yet so far._ It was typical, really, that the elevator didn't work as it seemed to hold a vendetta against the young woman and never appeared when summoned by her. With a curse beneath her breath, Allie begrudgingly began her climb up the stairs, dragging one foot behind the other as her phone turned on, the home screen appearing. Allie slipped the key ring through her pinkie finger and watched as the notifications rolled in, her mobile data and Bluetooth battery already beginning their feast on her phone's poor battery. There were ten missed calls from Lisa, all spaced throughout the day since half three up until a half hour before hand. Allie felt her face furrow as she scrolled through the missed calls, ten from Lisa and one from an unknown number. Then, came the texts; they mostly comprised of ' _answer ur phone!'_ and ' _please reply asap!'_ And so forth, up until the last text, which had been sent around the same time that Allie had finished and left work for home. Allie stared at it, quite shocked and she stilled upon reading the words.

 _DON'T COME HOME._

Allie paused in her footsteps, staring at the screen and was unsure of how to proceed. Once again, a rabid, all-consuming panic took a hold of her, instantly fearing for the worst as her mind began to torture Allie with all different types of scenarios, of reasons for Lisa's texts; her keys were brushing against the side of her hand, as if reminding her she was nearly home, taunting her. Her mouth felt dry, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as her heart tripped in her chest, too loud and harsh in her ears. _What to do, what to do?_ Rang in Allie's head and she could feel her chest seize up, contacting and her mind being pulled apart as she tried to think, tried to form a response to the situation. Gathering enough of herself, Allie regained some control of her shaking hands to open up the chat, thumbs slipping on the screen as she tried to type out her message to Lisa, breathing too loud and shallow, and –

Her writing paused, and the screen froze, before it turned to black, the battery giving out as Allie stared wide eyed at her reflection, feeling that the universe was out to get her. _Great, just great_ , Allie hissed, grip on her phone tightening and skin stretching over her knuckles, fading to a pale yellow. She knew the signs of what has happening to her, could feel her stomach knotting and her breathing quicken, short and sharp and not enough to make the ache in her lungs subside. While part of Allie thought of the worst-case scenario, another part of her, a somewhat rational part, was trying to calm her down, trying to make Allie not as worried due to the events that happened the previous day which had begun exactly like now. For all Allie knew, it was nothing.

Or it could be the very thing she feared.

Her mind was torn, and Allie had her two feet on separate steps on the stairs, one behind the other and ready to flee either way. Her hands shook, and her heart was too tight and too large for her, beating too fast and it felt as if it was going to explode; she had no control of her thoughts, of her body and her teeth took hold of her bottom lip, as she was prone to do, biting down as hard as she could until it felt as if that she was going to tear right through the skin and make blood bead and bubble up to the surface; with a shaky gulp, Allie pocketed her phone, facing towards the stairs and the way she came before her gaze whipped upwards, to where Lisa was either waiting for her, or there was no one there.

The dilemma was pulling her either way and there was a headache burrowing in her temples and the cold was eating away at her clothes and –

"Oh, screw it," Allie murmured, resuming her climb though doing so much faster with her heart hammering beneath her chest.

Everything seemed quiet, _too_ quiet and it felt eerie, making her nervous and ready to jump at any slight noise. Allie drew closer to her own apartment, hands unsteady and feeling dragged down by her clothes, a bead of rain that had clung to her hair rolling down the back of her neck. She was conscious of everything, of her breathing, her shoes on the creaking stairs, the low muffle of the neighbours as they lived without knowing how quickly Allie was falling apart, teeth threatening to rip the fragile skin of her lip; she clutched her phone close to her chest, not bothering to watch her movement before her foot caught on the top step and Allie stumbled, letting out a loud curse before she stood again, pushing her hair back behind her ears as her eyes focused in on her apartment door, stomach knotting and throat closing up, drawing closer and closer before –

There was a hurry of steps and Allie heard a clamber, as if someone had tripped over themselves before the door flew open and Lisa squeezed herself out through a small crack in the door. Allie stilled, staring at the sight of Lisa emerging from the apartment and relief flooded through Allie, waves of it drowning her fear and panic so rapidly that they were swept away as Lisa faced her friend, wide eyed and pale. Before Allie could stop herself, she flung herself into her friend's arms and held her, fingers gripping the material of Lisa's tops and threatening to tear it. Allie was never one for sharing physical affection – save for when she was drunk or moments such as these. She couldn't remember the last time she had hugged Lisa without the other girl initiating it or the two being drunk but the fact that Lisa was _alive_ and _okay_ made her push past her usual uncomfortableness with touching people and hold her friend close, just to make sure she was real and alive.

"Oh my god, I was so worried!" Allie whispered, voice raspy and not bothering to conceal the worry that had wracked her heart moments before hand. "I thought something bad had – "

Allie couldn't finish because Lisa peeled her off of her, pushing her back towards the stairs, puzzlement etching its way onto Allie's face at Lisa's actions.

"Al, you need to go," Lisa hissed, not even bothering to explain herself, becoming forceful with her pushing and not daring to raise her voice above its harsh whisper, raspy at the edges and desperate while ignoring the look of confusion that had appeared on Allie's face. Allie's eyes glanced over Lisa's shoulder and to the apartment, spying that the door was left half open before they made their way back to Lisa's green eyes, feet trying to plant themselves on the ground to subdue Lisa's pushing.

"Why, what is it? Has something happened?" Allie questioned, voice quick and she pulled herself from Lisa's grip, trying to make sense of the situation. Lisa shook her head, hair loose and flying around her, determined to keep her voice low as her hand wrapped itself around Allie's bicep, nails digging in through the damp sleeve. Allie couldn't say the words, didn't want to say them because if she said them it might be real and everything, her life, world, all she had would be over and she would be back at square one – and square one meant that she would be all alone again.

"I sent you texts and I tried to call you," Lisa explained, unsteady and gulping while drawing herself close to Allie, briefly throwing her gaze back to the apartment door. "You need to leave, okay? It isn't safe – "

"What do you mean it isn't safe, Leese?" Allie pushed, tugging her arm free and desperately trying not to fall victim to her preying thoughts. If it was what she thought it was, then neither she or Lisa could stay in the apartment. Lisa shook her head and attempted to give Allie another push towards the stairs, frightful and unable to find her voice. Allie tried to fight against Lisa's shoving, but she felt so small, so weak to fight against the fear and terror that was chewing her insides, eating her from the inside out and making her feel hollow and fragile. _If Lisa could just explain what was going on for once in her life –_

"You need to go, Al, you need to – "

"Are you alright out there?"

The two women paused, both wide eyed at the voice coming from the apartment. Allie stared at Lisa, floundering as she tried to collect her thoughts at the fact there was a _guy_ in the apartment. Lisa placed a finger over Allie's mouth, indicating that she wanted the other woman to remain silent as she gulped, her other free hand reaching up to hastily run through her knotted, black strands. Allie felt that if Lisa's finger had not been pressed up against her lips, her jaw would have fallen open in shock. Lisa gave a shake of her head, clearly indicating that she did not want Allie to open her mouth and speak before she turned over her shoulder, trying to find her voice.

"Uh, yeah! Everything is okay! Nothing for you to worry about, it's just my neighbour!" Lisa's voice shook, warbling on the end of the sentence and not even her touch on Allie's lips could stop the smile that was quirking at the corner of her mouth. Lisa took her hand back and it only made the grin grow wider. Allie's fright seeped away, making her feel somewhat embarrassed once again for fearing the worst, for assuming that everything was always going to end but she had never felt so calmed and her worry had been eased, allowing her to finally drink in the air around her to soothe her burning lungs.

"Is there… a _guy_ in our apartment?" Allie teased, not bothering to stop when she saw the warning look in Lisa's eyes. "And in broad daylight? My, my, Lisa Turner, you _scoundrel._ "

Not in the mood for games and not sharing in on the teasing banter, Lisa shoved Allie back towards the mouth of the stairs, voice still hushed and afraid of being over heard. "No, it isn't – it's not… listen, Allie, you _need_ to leave. Please, just listen to me and just… just come back in a few hours, alright?"

There was something in Lisa's face that made Allie want to comply, that made her believe that she should listen to her friend and do what she said; Lisa's hand gripped Allie's shoulder, driving her towards the exit and pausing at the top of the stairs, staring down at her friend as Allie stared back up, unsure of what to say or how to proceed. The situation seemed off kilter, and there was a voice at the back of Allie's mind trying to make sense of everything, of the texts, the missed calls, her friend's appearance and the fact there was a _guy_ in the apartment. With a sombre look, Allie gave a nod, hand reaching up to cover Lisa's and placing one foot down the next step of the stairs.

"Alright, I'll leave," Allie complied. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Lisa's body sagged with relief, her hold on Allie's shoulder loosening before dropping, a rushed thank you leaving her mouth as Allie gave a nod and a sympathetic smile. Allie hitched her bag up her shoulder, stuffing her phone in her pocket and turning to go when the mischievousness in her reared its head, smirking in the back of her mind as she paused on the stairs for a brief second and quickly turned to rush past her friend.

Lisa gave a shout, of her name or something else, Allie didn't know as a laugh left her lips, bursting in to the apartment while fondly remembering how it wasn't the first time Lisa tried hiding a guy in the apartment in broad daylight. Only that time, the guy had been completely naked and didn't speak a word of English. Allie hoped that, at least this time, the guy was wearing clothes; she didn't need an eyeful of a random stranger's junk.

Allie fell past the door, quickly moving in through the apartment, shoes thundering against the wooden floorboards as she heard Lisa's voice, trying to coax her out of the apartment before she resorted to using force in order to push Allie out the door and into the hallway; Allie didn't understand as to why that Lisa was so determined to make Allie leave as she had never acted like that in the past, had never been so eager to have Allie make haste when there was a guy over. Too late it clicked, and too late did she feel like kicking herself in the ass for not listening to her usual, pessimistic self and realising the situation was way worse than what she had hoped it to be and it was then that the realisation that she maybe, probably should have listened to her friend hit her.

The two women paused as Allie finally saw the form of the man, sitting with his back towards the two and seemingly unaware of the scene that happened out in the hall; however, at the sound of footsteps and voices he perked up, turning around to face them, leaning forward to place the mug he had been sipping from down on the coffee table. Even from the back of his head, there was something that was familiar, something that was setting off the alarm bells in Allie's mind and made her think that she had recognised his voice from somewhere, but she just couldn't place it, couldn't connect the dots. By the time Allie saw half his face, she realised she most _definitely_ should have listened to Lisa and began to entertain the idea of darting from the door – or maybe jumping out of the window would be the better option.

Lisa gave a meek _oh, no_ beneath her breath as her hand dropped from Allie's arm, staring at the man that was intruding in their home. Allie tried to make sense of it all, tried to blink and hope that it wasn't real _because it couldn't be real._ Her mouth nearly dropped open, lips parting to suck in a sharp gasp of air as she took him in, shoulder slumping and her bag fell, making a sound _splat_ against the ground, flabbergasted and mind reeling as she stared at the one and the only Tony Stark.

He seemed quite amused by the spectacle of the gobsmacked Allie, at her parted mouth and wide eyes, how her hair was damp and dripping. He took in her appearance, cocking his head to the side as Allie continued to stare, continued to remain taken aback and unresponsive at the fact that _Tony Stark was in her apartment and drinking coffee._ No one spoke, no one moved as Tony Stark stood up, stuffing one hand into his pocket and taking his time as he made his way to walk in front of Allie, mouth tilted upwards into a smirk, her unblinking eyes watching him all the time as he did so. _This can't be real, this can't be real._ Lisa moved from beside her, head ducked and trying to seem small as she inched further and further away from Allie, as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Allie probably should have pieced it together, should have been smart enough to probably do the same but her mind was elsewhere, reeling from the revelation that _Tony Stark was in her apartment._ Her voice had died on her, buried beneath the surprise and shock of this revelation, floundering and trying to remember how to speak, her thoughts an incomprehensible mess. She didn't know what to do, or say, or think. All that passed through her mouth was: "You're Tony Stark."

Tony Stark paused in front of her, taking in the sight of her half-wet hair and damp coat at a closer range, her wide, blue eyes staring at him and his own back at her, looking something akin to fascination at the sight of shock that was carved into her features. He gave a sound that might have been an amused huff before he gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"And you're the girl who broke through my security in less than a minute."

Oh.

 _Fuck._

* * *

 _ **Wow, I'm honestly just so blown away by all the support this fic has received since I've published it!**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for such a brilliant response to this fic in such a short space of time as it all means so much to me! You guys have no idea how much more confident I am now in this fic after receiving such a fantastic response!**_

 _ **With regards to updates, I will try to do once a week, but I make no promises, especially as the fic progresses. Though this fic is much different to my other fics because I have a beginning, a middle and an end planned out. I guess it's just how long it'll take me to get there is the main question.**_

 ** _Allie is hiding something, but will we ever find out? Will I ever find out myself? Just kidding, I already know (for once I actually know what I'm writing and not improvising.)_**

 ** _Allie and Tony finally interact next chapter and it's... well, you'll just have to wait and see!_**

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	4. Chapter Three

**_I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise._**

 ** _Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!_**

* * *

 ** _Chapter Three._**

There were many words that could be used to describe Tony Stark.

Allie had spent the better part of ten years watching him on T.V, catching glimpses of his face splashed all over tabloid magazines and broadsheet newspapers, beneath all kinds of headlines. Often, they were bold and broad lettered, taking up the majority of the front page, ranging from grainy photos of him as Iron Man to sleek and clean pictures of him as, well, him. They were hard to ignore, and no one could open up the morning newspaper without being greeted with the name and face of Tony Stark.

There was no escaping on the Internet either, from the countless videos on Youtube and Facebook alike, of him as Iron Man, saving the day, helping people and also as being himself, as Tony Stark with a mouth too big for his even larger head. Watching him as either was dizzying and Allie didn't know how these reporters had the energy to keep up with him as it was always one thing or another with Tony Stark; from scandals to relationship breakups, to his saving the world and pushing vast amounts of money to clean up the messes that he and his team had made in doing so.

Not to mention that Allie had seen countless articles, had even read a few of them herself (Allie had shamelessly taken a few Buzzfeed quizzes to see which _iconic_ Tony Stark look she was a few times when it was 2 a.m. and found it hard to sleep sleep) and they had, in the end that was this moment, all amounted to nothing, because she could not fathom how it was that Tony Stark was in her apartment, could not form a proper string of words to create a single thought because he had been built up in her head for so long as this genius billionaire who fought aliens and gods and evil robots and everything in between, and had saved the word _twice_ and yet, the only thing she could think was that, without a doubt, Tony Stark was…

Short.

Allie knew she wasn't tall by anyone's standards; she stood at five foot and one inch and was teased incessantly about her height, not to mention that too often had she been used as an arm rest on various occasions by those who thought it would funny. So, Allie knew that, by no means, she could really think of Tony Stark as short nor could she be almost _disappointed_ that he wasn't as tall as he appeared on the T.V. Did the suit make him taller? That had to be it, maybe that was why Allie had built up this picture of Tony Stark being a much taller man than he was standing in front of her. There was also the fact that she had never actually seen him in real life, but when you're used to seeing someone being everywhere and couldn't turn on the T.V without being greeted by their face, they become this almost otherworldly being that didn't seem human – like the Kardashians. There was not a corner a person could turn in New York without being bombarded with images, videos or murals of the Avengers and seeing them had become so ingrained in the daily lives of the people of America and, indeed, the wider world. They were revered, almost akin to powerful demigods (with one being an _actual_ god) and there was something completely heart stilling and mind blowing about having one of those heroes in her home.

 _So, what in God's name was she doing thinking about his height when one of Earth's mightiest defenders was standing in her apartment?_

Allie felt as if all the air had been knocked from her lungs, mouth dry and tongue glued to the roof of it, her throat rasping as the drying strands of her hair slithered around her neck, choking her and preventing her from saying anything. What ever sensible thought that might have lurked in the corner of her mind soon scampered and Allie was left with nothing to respond with. It didn't seem real, _couldn't_ be real because the very idea of this happening was ridiculous, ludicrous and unrealistic. But no matter how much she blink, the vision of Tony Stark standing in her apartment, looking at her with narrowed eyes, would not vanish; she tried to get her mind together, to fathom it all, yet all Allie could think of was how in God's name was it possible that Tony Stark was in her apartment and why was it that she had to look like a drowned rat?

For a moment, that seemed to be all that mattered in in the world, but, in the end, it was such a small, insignificant thing because as soon as those words, those _damned_ words, left his mouth, Allie knew she probably, most definitely should have taken the brief interval of peace to fling herself out the window.

 _And you're the girl who broke through my security in less than a minute._

There was a ringing in her ears, echoes of his words that hurt her skull, bouncing off of the walls as reality began its unrelenting pace to hit her. Beside her, Lisa clamped down on the nail of her thumb, edging further and further away from her friend, in fear or in order not to be affiliated with Allie, she didn't know. He waited for her to reply, eyeing her with a slight narrowed scowl but still maintaining that essence of amusement – because, maybe to everyone other than Allie at that moment, it _was_ amusing to witness Tony Stark staring down a dripping Allie, the latter with her mouth fallen open and looking like a downright mess; she probably wasn't what he was expecting and Allie thought to just deny everything, to tell him he got it all wrong and she was naught but a simple barista with a somewhat useless college degree and who had led a completely normal, mediocre life.

That was what she meant to say, at least.

What came out was a quiet splutter, comprised of gargles and half attempts to make words but none of it comprehensible; from the corner of her eye, she saw Lisa wince and attempt to seem smaller, eyes darting back and forth between Tony Stark and her gobsmacked friend, unsure of who to be warier of. Allie almost wanted to thump her friend on the back of the head and curse her for dragging her into this mess – or worse, for not taking the time to say _'Hey Allie, Tony Stark is in the apartment right now. You know, the same Tony Stark who owns the company that Pepper Potts is the CEO of? The same guy who basically funds and supports the Avengers? Yep, he's in there right now!'_ Despite how much Allie wanted to blame Lisa, she knew that all of it rested on her shoulders and on hers alone. One is always alone in their actions and Allie knew that she could not shift the blame to her friend.

Tony Stark lifted an eyebrow at Allie's garbled mess of speech and cocked his head to the side, that smile on his face not seeming the least bit friendly. He reached into his pocket, Allie's heart skipping a beat at the thought of him pulling out a gun and shooting her (guns always frightened her, and she could not stand firearms and the violence they brought), but her worry subsided when she saw it was just a phone, a small harmless thing that could do no damage to her.

Unless he threw it at her face at full force and caused it to cave in, she supposed.

Tony Stark glanced down at the screen, staring at something she couldn't see before his brown eyes were pulled back to her. "It _is_ Allison Lawrence, right? Born the first of January, 1990? Born in Rhode Island to first generation Irish immigrants? Graduated from – ?"

"I didn't steal anything!"

Tony Stark paused in the middle of his sentence, effectively cut off by Allie, phone held out in front of him but forgotten as his eyebrows crawled up further on his forehead, crinkles and creases digging themselves as he slowly pocketed his phone. Allie wanted to smack herself upside the head, to hit her forehead for being so idiotic and her mouth clamped shut, nearly chomping down on her poor, careless tongue. She just couldn't keep her trap shut and now her plan of denying everything was gone, destroyed by her panicked word vomit. Now there was no way in Hell she would be able to convince him that she wasn't the person she was looking for.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, but his tone was light, and Allie felt that age old panic rise again, stumbling for words and grasping whatever she could. She took a breath, testing the words she had chosen on her tongue as she attempted to steel her nerves, to calm the jitteriness that buzzed beneath her skin.

"I mean," Allie began, hesitant and casting a glance at Lisa who seemed to find a great interest in the floorboards at the moment, not that Allie didn't put it against her; she would much rather prefer to be in Lisa's shoes than her own, damp ones. Turning back to meet the eyes of Tony Stark, Allie wondered if he could quite clearly hear the panic that made her voice waver. "I didn't _do_ anything, and I didn't steal anything either."

Her mouth clamped shut after the words fell past the tip of her tongue, throat closing and staring back into Tony Stark's eyes, desperately trying to find any hint as to what he was thinking, to what he was going to do. But all she found was brown, brown and more brown to the point she was going to drown in it and her hands began to fidget, trying to settle the restlessness that was crawling beneath her skin, scratching to be let out. Faintly, she could hear the hustle and bustle of city life, the horns of cars honking, alarms blaring and the murmur of people's voices rising like a tide, waves of it rushing through the thin walls and mingling with those of the neighbours.

Then, Tony Stark gave a huff, pursing his lips and pocketing his phone, looking at her with something in his eyes that Allie didn't like; it made her unsure – of him, of what has happening, of what was going to happen. It felt as if everything was on the edge of a knife and at any given moment a breeze was going to knock her over to one side. Everything she worked for would be for nothing and even she couldn't be saved if Tony Stark decided to have her arrested. It felt as if she was rushing down a blind alley, too late to stop what she knew was awaiting for her at the end.

And that's what Allie waited for – for Tony Stark to call out and have her cuffed and put away with no trial and all for a _stupid e-mail_. It would be better for that to happen because Allie hated waiting, hated the feeling of being on the verge of falling and wanting it to just be over so she wouldn't have to feel like this. But the more seconds that passed by, she became uncertain and her fingers stretched and curled at her sides, picking at the cuffs of her too long sleeves on her coat, teeth grasping her lip as she was prone to do while Tony Stark continued to look at her, flicking once more to her wet hair and her pale face, the bag that was dropped in surprise before they turned back to Allie, still not giving anything away, whatever that might have calmed and reassured Allie that she was alright hidden beneath so many waves of brown and flecks of gold. That smile was still on his face, but it didn't comfort her, didn't ease the apprehension she felt.

"I didn't say anything about stealing, or of the sorts," he began, both hands in his pockets and looking far too relaxed for Allie, as if he wasn't in the apartment of someone who had broke through his security all because of a dare. She tried not to gulp or retreat into herself, tried not to cave into a mess of shallow breathing and a hummingbird for a heart. "If you didn't do anything, then how come you focused on you not stealing anything?"

His words brought Allie up short and confusion began to cloud her mind, puzzlement etching itself into her features as her mouth opened to say something, anything. Once more, her eyes darted to Lisa, who remained intent on focusing on the floor, no reassurance to give and no comfort for Allie to seek solace in. With no other choice, Allie turned back to Tony Stark, watching him as he began to make his way around the apartment, half turned away from her and seeming so uncaring, unbothered by the situation while taking in the sights of the small things that made this place a home. "I, uh… I mean, it's just… being careful? I didn't do anything, and I just wanted to… make sure that you knew I hadn't stolen anything either?"

She longed for something to soothe the dryness of her mouth, to banish the chilliness that clung to her bones and to ease the agitation that kept her muscles taut and stiff, but felt so frozen to the ground she stood on, unable to move in her own home and becoming more and more annoyed at the feeling of wearing her damp clothes, her hair cold and making her suppress a shiver whenever a droplet of rain would slip beneath the collar of her coat and top, rolling down her spine, cold and leaving a trail of goose bumps after it.

Tony Stark paused in his examination of the place, angling his body back to her and throwing her a look, one that clearly stated he did not believe her in the slightest and Allie felt a burn in her cheeks, embers of embarrassment hot beneath the skin. He looked away, eyes moving to the pictures on the wall, stopping in front of a picture of Lisa and Allie that had been taken some years before hand; in it was Lisa, angling the camera from her and wrapping an arm around Allie's shoulder, pulling her into a tricky position that had nearly made them topple over one another; it was an old picture and Allie hated it because of how uncomfortable she looked, barely smiling with her eyes hazy from the flash and the drink combined, while Lisa looked as beautiful as always, lipstick only slightly smeared – either from the lack of careless she had when drinking, or maybe due to some kiss that she had stolen from a stranger. It had been taken during New Years, if Allie remembered correctly but whether it had been 2011 or maybe 2012, she couldn't quite recall.

Now, as he tore his gaze away from the photo to turn his attention back to Allie, there was something she could pick out from his eyes, something less harsh and hostile, not as cold or clinical as before; it didn't ease Allie's need to bolt but she remained where she was, held in place by the fact he could mostly catch her before she could get to the stairs. Despite the fact she was much younger, Allie was no fool (not to mention that she was also incredibly out of shape) and had seen the videos of the one and only Iron Man in action and, therefore, she knew that he could probably kick her ass before she could throw a punch.

He eyed her for a moment, most likely trying to discern the image of the person who had broken in through his security from Allie; maybe, she could trick him and make him believe that it wasn't her, that he got the wrong person. _Perhaps jumping out the window is still an option…_

Before she could break into a sprint to do exactly that, the not so friendly smile on his face split wider, a toothy grin that seemed softer at the edges as he turned to Lisa, seeming far too comfortable in the apartment for Allie's liking. It was her home, her and Lisa's, so why did she feel like such a stranger, that she was the one trespassing?

"Can I have a minute alone with Ms. Lawrence? It won't take long, I just want to have a quick chat," he said, sounding exactly as he would on the T.V whereby his voice sounded almost fake and the politeness of his tone seemed somewhat forced, but there was something in it that made it seem less like a request, and more like a demand. He was a business man, he could navigate his way through a pool of sharks while bleeding, so Allie didn't doubt that he would be able to get what he wanted here – whatever that was, exactly. So far, he hadn't berated her or threatened her, or even arrested Allie, but she felt too on edge, ready to bolt at any given moment due to the restlessness that was threatening to burst beneath her skin.

At his words, Lisa pulled her eyes away from the knots in the floorboards to meet the eyes of Tony Stark, unblinking and looking as if she would want nothing more than to shrink away. Allie could see the panic that was wracking Lisa, knew how she was so close to falling apart at the prospect of not just having uprooted both of their lives, of not only being arrested, but for being the reason behind it all. For all Allie's annoyance, she felt it drip away, slowly but surely, for she knew that whatever may happen, that while she was safe to some degree, Lisa wasn't; it wasn't Lisa's fault, not truly, and Allie knew that, for all her complaining, that she could have said no, could have put her foot down and told Lisa that she was not going to do as she asked and Allie knew that, while her friend might have been upset for the days to come, she would have understood and known that she had asked such a thing from Allie all in the heat of the moment and Allie could have been in the right to say no, but she didn't – because, deep down, some part of her wanted to do what Lisa had asked her to do. Not to mention, the blame was solely on Allie's shoulders for breaking through the security of the Avengers' and she had kicked herself for being so stupidly drunk for doing so; Lisa had told her not to, saying that she shouldn't, and Allie hadn't listened.

She hadn't taken the necessary precautions back then and Allie had no doubt that it had led Tony Stark to her apartment, to confront her; Allie had brought this upon herself and the blame was more hers than Lisa's. If Allie had to go down, if she had to have her life brought down crashing around her, she would be damned well sure not to bring Lisa down with her. It was the least she could do, after all. For the years of friendship, for trusting Allie and not leaving her when she should have.

Lisa was torn, looking at Tony Stark as he awaited for her to leave the apartment before turning to Allie, eyebrows knotted, and lips pursed into a straight line. Without a moment's hesitation, Allie gave her a nod that was followed swiftly by regret because she didn't want to be alone, didn't want to have the inevitable happen to her. She knew that Tony Stark was going to arrest her, regardless of whether Lisa was in the room or not. But Allie could sure as hell do with some moral support. Yet, she still gave that nod and Lisa lingered for moment, as if wanting Allie to retract it before realising that her friend had, indeed, meant it and wanted her to leave. Lisa threw another look to Tony Stark, untrusting and uncertain, before she put one foot in front of the other, head bowed – either in shame or not wanting to be seen, Allie didn't know; all Allie wished was that it was her that was walking out the door and closing it behind her. It felt much more like a sealing of Allie's fate and then it was just the two of them – her and _the_ Tony Stark.

Allie's eyes focused on the door for a brief, few moments before her eyes dragged themselves back to meet the gaze of Tony Stark, trying not to shrink beneath his stare that felt too sharp and narrowed, judging. Her hands began to fiddle with the cuffs of her jacket, hovering above her stomach as her teeth chewed away on the inside of her cheek, all too conscious of her appearance and her damp hair, wishing she could slip the hair tie off of her wrist and pull the curling strands away from her face instead of letting them hang loose and dripping around her face like a heavy curtain. She hated to stand still, to be caught and unable to move or fidget in order to quell some of the edginess that was trembling in her.

It was Tony who pulled away first, hands curled in his pockets as he went back to examining the sparse, few photos that were hanging atop of the wall, drinking them in as he began to walk leisurely around the apartment; it was then Allie began to wonder how long he had been there, how long he had spent wandering around her home and peering into her personal life. To her discomfort, he had managed to find information about her and an onslaught of old anxiety began to rear it's head once more; if he had managed to find out her name and other such information, did he find out more? Did he know more? Maybe the real reason as to why he was here was because he knew more than he was letting on and assumed that Lisa hadn't known, hence why he asked her to leave. Allie began to regret sending Lisa out of the apartment and was half tempted to call her back.

If there was anything that could cause Allie to burst into a hit of hysterics, it was the thought of being confronted with the skeletons in her closet.

She couldn't find her voice to fill the silence and he took it as an invitation to do so instead.

"You know, saying that you didn't steal anything, sounds like the words of someone who stole something," he began, as if attempting to tease her but there was no lightness in his voice. Allie felt her jaw clench, muscle jumping beneath the skin as she kept her eyes glued to his form, watching him move around the place with a carelessness in his step that made her irritation flare. Yet, Allie tried to remain civil and swallowed the flames of exasperation as they began to burn her throat. No one use angering the person who could put her in a jail cell for the rest of her life – or upset the state of her life and ruin everything she had worked for. And he still had not given any hint as to whether he knew more about her than he was letting on. It spurred her on, giving her the strength to speak.

"I _didn't_ steal anything," Allie insisted, managing to keep her voice level and gradually becoming unwound, the stiffness in her muscles giving way to the warmth of her apartment and the fear that kept her body taut and upright dissipating. "Mr. Stark, I promise you that I did not steal _anything_."

At her words he turned to her and that gleam in his eyes was brighter somehow, as if the whole situation, while stress inducing to Allie, was absolutely amusing to him. Now, Allie began to realise that maybe all those articles she had read describing him as a complete and utter _ass_ were turning out to be true; he just had to be getting a kick out of nearly making Allie fit to collapse from the amount of stress he was causing her. "But, you did _do_ something, right? I mean, of course you did. Otherwise, if you didn't, I wouldn't be here."

If Allie had the energy she might have glared at how completely and utterly _cocky_ he was at having caught her out. She had been so panicked earlier that she hadn't thought to pretend to be stupid, to play the part of an ignorant roommate and not just blurt out her terribly put defence. Her tongue was stuck between her teeth, half tempted to just chomp down on it before it could wiggle free and let loose any secrets that clung to the tip of it, ready to fall off.

 _Technically_ , she didn't really break any laws – she hadn't stolen any information and sold it to enemies of the Avengers or of Stark; with regards to Pepper Potts' email, maybe it was _slightly_ more incriminating, but there was no proof left to actually prove Allie broke any law or that could make them send her to prison. It was a stupid, irrelevant e-mail that was now gone from the face of the planet and the contents of it were so unimportant and ridiculous, there was nothing that could make anyone think that she had actually done something _bad_.

Despite what Allie was so desperately trying to convince herself of, there was a worry buzzing in her chest, wondering if it was all much more different because it was the _Avengers,_ it was _Tony Stark,_ the man who had saved the entire population of New York by flying a missile into a wormhole _into outer space._ Allie felt as if she had already lost against whatever case that she foolishly believed that she could win. Swallowing roughly to soothe the ache in her throat, Allie dug her voice up from the bottom of her throat, rusty and covered in dust.

"Mr. Stark, I – "

"I was having a very long and hard day," Tony began, cutting her off and turning to gaze out of the window, the view pitiful and not at all pleasing to see. Allie's mouth clamped down again, voice rushing back down to never be found ever again. He sounded as if they were discussing the topic of the weather, and not the fact Allie may have broken a few laws and the fact she had broken into his security system not once, but twice and only one of those times had she done it while sober. "And I couldn't wait to get to bed, you know? So, there I am, ready to fall asleep and it's quarter past twelve in the morning; just as I'm about to finally get to sleep – get this – I get a notification that someone had _broken_ through _my security_."

Allie barely managed to suppress a wince at his words, hands wringing themselves in front of her as she took to gnawing on her bottom lip, watching as Tony Stark moved away from the window, a half smile on his face and far too at ease for Allie's liking, continuing to recount his tale to her unwilling ears.

"I thought that it was a fluke, some malfunction that I had missed because it was just _impossible_ for someone to do what I was being told had happened," he continued, sounding exasperated to some extent, taking a hand from his pocket to give it a small wave, as if to capture the ridiculous notion of it all, that someone had manage to crack through a firewall that Tony Stark himself had created and protected. Truth be told, it did sound utterly crazy, but Allie had been drunk and it hadn't exactly passed through her head that maybe she wasn't in her right state of mind. "I mean, how on God's green Earth could someone manage to do that? And in thirty-seven seconds? It's nonsensical – it's ridiculous, right?"

He gave her a pointed look and Allie felt put on the spot, straightening her spine. "Uh, yeah, it's – "

"See! I know it is," Tony laughed, though it was forced and didn't alleviate the uncertainty and worry Allie was carrying. He drew closer, making his way around the apartment until it led him to her, taking his sweet time and moving at a leisurely pace that seemed akin to a lion haunting the footsteps of its prey. "And I went to just forget it, because nothing was taken, so why would it be a cause for worry? But then, _then_ I get _another_ notice yesterday that not only had this person decided to get into the e-mail of Pepper Potts', the CEO of Stark Industries, a company my family has built and nurtured for so many decades, and not only have they done it in less than half a minute…"

He was closer now, standing in front of her and seeming far too serious to give Allie the hope that maybe, just maybe, she might be able to make it out of here, free and not a criminal. Allie did not bat an eyelid, worried that she might miss even the most subtle of actions as he paused in front of her, closer than she ever thought possible. Her head was tilted up slightly to meet his eyes and, suddenly, Tony Stark didn't seem so short to her anymore. He looked to her like a giant, towering above her quivering self, ready to crush her beneath the immense strength of his power and influence. She held eye contact, to trapped to look away; he was so close she could see the ring of honey coloured flecks in his eyes and how smudges of violet lay hanging beneath them, deep set and like bruises remaining from the fists of exhaustion. In his beard were flecks of grey, splattered and sparse. He paused in his words and Allie gulped, letting herself give way to the shaking of her hands.

"But they did it on a _Toshiba_ laptop."

Allie blinked.

A pause, then her face screwed up.

"Well, actually, it's a Dell."

 _Damn you, Allie; you and your big mouth._

At her words, the man in front of her finally broke into a sincere grin, looking far too much like the cat that got the cream as Allie cursed at herself. His entire stance shifted, leaning into something less rigid and uptight as the hand in his other pocket pulled free, clapping with the other as the grin on his face deepened the crinkles near his eyes, the shimmer in his gaze gleaming and twinkling. If Allie wasn't too busy mentally kicking herself in the ass, she might have been inclined to slap the cheeky smile off of his face.

"Fantastic! I mean, that's even worse, but this is brilliant!" he exclaimed, looking far too pleased at realising that the person who had broken through his superior technology with a _Dell laptop_ was standing right in front of him. Allie found her voice again, air rushing in to fill her lungs and mind scrambling to find any sort of excuse or find any coherent word to string a sentence together.

"Mr. Stark, I am _so_ sorry," Allie spluttered, hands knotted in front of her and heart skipping in her chest, unable to keep up with her racing thoughts. "I never meant to do it, I wasn't thinking clearly – "

"Oh, nonsense, it's not every day I meet someone who even comes even as close as you did in cracking my security," Tony said, waving her words away but Allie persevered, trying to quell the panic in her as she took a step closer, reaching up to tangle a hand in her hair. She couldn't believe she was so stupid as to actually admit to what he accused her of – and to what she had actually done, but that self ass-kicking was for later. She felt desperate, trying to cling on to reason and not resort to using tears as she tried to string together an apology; all the while, Tony Stark seemed indifferent to her deteriorating self, more focused on moving onto the next topic of conversation he had in mind.

"Please, I never meant to do any harm; it was a dare and I was really drunk, and I was acting like a stupid idiot – "

"I'm sorry, what?" he said, reeling Allie from her word vomit and making her finally pay heed to his face, watching his features morph into something like shock. She paused in her speaking, unsure as to what had caused him to turn to a state of being stunned, close to spluttering with eyes bugging out. "What did you say?"

Allie stared at him for moment, hesitation flowing through her and mingling with bewilderment at his shock. "I said I was being a stupid idiot."

He shook his head, strands of his perfectly styled hair falling free and shaking at the action, face still screwed up as though he was trying to believe her words. "No, did you just say that you manage to get into a system that I, Tony Stark, created… while you were _drunk_ , and that you did it… for a _dare_?"

Allie opened her mouth, pausing to consider her words and ponder on the decision of lying again. But there was no point, she had already admitted to it, yet she was uncertain of her confirmation even as she gave it, looking at his somewhat pale and stunned face. "Uh… yes?"

A splutter left him, air rushing past his lips as he was reduced to dramatics, placing a hand over his heart and seeming overly offended at what Allie had just said, making her realise that telling the truth was not the best course of action and she reeled back, stutter as she tried to cover her ass. "I mean, no, I wasn't drunk at all. I was stone cold sober when I did it."

He glanced at her through narrowed eyes, not believing her pathetic attempt at recovery and her lips pulled together to form an apologetic curve, no longer feeling held down or choked by the seriousness of the situation; the tension in the room shifted, no longer stuffy or making it hard to breathe as Tony Stark corrected himself, no longer overacting being offended by her words, but still remaining ing peeved to some degree at the fact his system had been breached by someone who had been completely and utterly _wasted_ ; in her defence, it had been ages since Allie had last gotten drunk before that incident so when the opportunity to get drunk out of her mind had come, she had taken it with glee. She was still pretty sure that, at some point during the night, she stopped mixing coke with her vodka and began to drink the spirit straight with the pain in her head the next morning along with the fact she had spent the better half of the day dry retching over a toilet being a sure sign.

Tony gave a sniff, tugging at the cuffs of his jacket and moving away from Allie to take a seat on the sofa, reclaiming the spot where he had been when Allie had burst in through the door not so long ago. Her eyes followed him as he did so, her thoughts drifting to think about changing into a different pair of clothes and having dinner and a nice cup of tea, but she was pulled from these fantasies when he turned and drew her attention to him, brown eyes seeming that bit more friendlier and less cold.

"Take a seat, Ms. Lawrence, I feel like we have a lot to talk about. Well, I have a lot to talk about and you have a lot to listen to," he said, gesturing to the empty space beside him as if it was his right to do so, as if this was his home and that he wasn't a guest, a stranger trespassing in her apartment. She could feel herself seething, bubbling beneath the skin and Allie was ready to open her mouth and justly tell him that he was in _her_ home and she would do as she was please – then he patted the space beside him, smiling all the while. "No need to worry, I don't bite. It's best we talk things over."

She complied.

Because, _of course_ she did.

When someone who could have you arrested says they want to talk things out, you best do what they say until you're in the clear.

Allie felt stiff and awkward, scooping the strap of her bag into her hand and lifting it up from where it sat slumped on the ground, toes cold and near numb as she made her way to the space beside Tony Stark. While part of her was infuriated at the fact she was being told what to do in her own home by the man, the other, small part was still in shock at the fact that _Iron Man_ was in _her apartment_ and that he didn't look as threatening when he was smiling sincerely, but part of her was still hesitant to trust that he had only good intentions in coming to her home.

Placing her bag on the table, Allie shuffled in towards the free spot, not trying to grimace at the fact she would probably leave a wet spot and have Lisa faint at the sight; living in New York, no matter how much money Allie had, was costly and buying new furniture was something neither could afford – not since Lisa was being a low paid office worker and the fact Allie poured coffee for a living. Yet, it was comfortable, and the place wasn't a complete shoebox; it was a home and it was the best one Allie could ever had asked for.

Allie sat down, hands going between her knees to stop them fidgeting as she awaited for him to speak, to say something before she launched herself into another long, apologetic spiel and dig herself into an even deeper grave. She kept her teeth firmly set on her tongue, preventing her from saying anything even if she wanted to as Tony twisted on the couch into a more comfortable position facing her, leaning back into the cushions and looking more at home than she did.

"So, Ms. Lawrence – "

"Allison," Allie interjected, blurting the words out before she could stop herself. He turned to her, eyebrow cocked, and Allie shifted beneath his gaze once more "My name's Allison – I usually go by Allie."

"Well, _Allison_ ," he continued, stretching his arm to let it rest against the back of the couch, fingers drumming a nonsensical rhythm as he spoke. Allie wished he would get straight to the point instead of dancing around what he wanted to say; Tony Stark always seemed to be saying something, just never saying it right. "Tell me, what was the point of it?"

Allie stared at him, trying to not get increasingly annoyed at the drumming of his fingers. "I'm sorry?"

"No need," he said, waving his hand and Allie curled her fingers in towards her palm, trying so desperately to keep herself in check. "What I mean is: why risk yourself getting caught? It was your second time doing so and we'd eventually catch on – we, meaning I, also meaning my dear helper, F.R.I.D.A.Y. You're good, no doubt, but using a Toshiba – "

" _Dell_ ," Allie stressed, stupidly angered by his mistake and making his lips curve upwards around his words at her doing so. _Ass._

"Sorry, using a _Dell_ laptop is probably not the best idea," he sighed, clicking his tongue as his fingers picked up a new rhythm on. "And I guess what I'm trying to say here is: how is it a person as smart as you would do something so stupid as to risk it?"

There was a backhanded compliment hidden in there somewhere, Allie knew, and she felt it stinging on her cheek, burning and shaking her train of thought as she found it becoming more difficult with each passing moment to withstand the great Tony Stark. Allie felt her face fall, resting as she processed his words and decided on hers. Once again, the thought of lying reared its ugly head once more but Allie was so far in her grave that she might as well dig herself down even further; what could lying get her at this point? He already knew the majority of the story and twisting it would only prove difficult to keep the charade later and she would eventually be caught out in her words, causing the situation to deteriorate in an even worse way.

"Okay, the first time I was being stupid, but, in my defence, I was drunk," Allie explained, feeling a small bit pleased at seeing him give her a side glance at her words but she didn't bother to correct herself; she wanted to rub it in his face that, even when she couldn't stand straight or piss without falling off of the toilet, she could still get pass his security and prove herself to be, in some sense, better than Tony Stark. "And the second time… I was helping Lisa out. She sent something to Pepper Potts that might have… affected her being able to get the position as Ms. Potts' assistant and I was… I was just helping a friend out."

Tony chewed on her words for a moment, digesting them before he reached into his pocket, lifting himself slightly off of the chair as he took a hold of it, silent and not looking at Allie, leaving her in suspense as she watched him, confused at his unexpected actions. Part of her thought that maybe he was doing so in order to call the police, the other part was wondering would he be able to see her coming if she went to slap the device from his hand and throw it to the other side of the room, or, better yet, out the window.

As the thought ran through her mind, Allie was pulled from her daydream as Tony shifted closer to her, the seat of the couch dipping due his weight as he held the phone in front of her, thumb scrolling through what seemed to be miles and miles of information that left Allie dizzy. She didn't understand how he managed to store this much information, let alone navigate through it; she could barely get through the orders at work without getting confused at some point. He gave a small murmur beneath his breath, more so to himself than her, then pulled something up and turned to smirk at her, the two of them too close for Allie's liking. There was too little space between them and Allie could smell his cologne, not as over powering as most men tend to wear it and she could see the laugh lines that etched themselves above his cheek bones; across his nose, there was a small splash of freckles, gathering close beneath his left eye before bursting along the bridge and becoming sparse beneath the top of his right cheek.

"You mean this e-mail?"

Allie turned her gaze downward to the screen and, to her horror (and to some _slight_ hilarity) there, in full brightness, was Lisa's e-mail, complete with the picture of her teenage self, the ever-present acne prone skin and her unfortunate brace-face, wisps of uncontrollable black curls escaping around her temples. The first time seeing it had been funny (and so was this time – had it not been Tony Stark showing her this and had he not been the one who could call the cops, Allie would have laughed) but now there was a pit sizzling in her stomach.

"I'm not going to lie," Tony said, a lilt in his voice as he, too, turned to look at the rather terrible and unflattering picture of Lisa. If Lisa had known that Tony Stark saw her photo, she would have fainted from the shame. "I did laugh the first time I saw it. I mean, I doubt anyone would want pictures of them being _McDonald's_ workers to surface – especially when looking like this."

"Actually, it was _Chuck E. Cheese_ ," Allie breathed, trying to not cringe at the God awful self-description Lisa had written down on the resumé; teenager or no, someone should have told her that putting down _animal lover_ was not a good idea beneath a heading that quite clearly stated _quality traits._ With the Comic Sans font, the whole thing screams _don't employ me._ Beside her, Tony gave a whistle, as if he was having a hard time looking at it too.

"Just as terrible," he muttered, before locking the screen and placing it back into his pocket, shuffling away from Allie again and giving her some much-needed breathing space as he tugged at his jacket around him, straightening it. "Just so you know, just clicking 'put into trash' and then deleting it, doesn't actually get rid of it."

"I know that," Allie frowned, finding herself becoming more relaxed at his somewhat easy-going approach to the situation. Allie inched herself further into the couch, finally leaning back against it and stretched her legs out, ankles crossed and ridding herself of the stiffness that had taken a hold of her for some time. "That was Lisa; I just got her in and out."

"Ah, then that explains the sloppiness of it," he muttered, though more so to himself until Allie, unable to help herself, shot him a glare from where she sat and, quite comically and to her surprise, he hastily tried to recover. "Not you, of course, just that she wasn't exactly very – how should I say? – _thorough_. But that's not the point – "

"Then what _is_ the point, Mr Stark?" Allie asked, turning to face him wholly and finally being unable to contain the strange concoction of curiosity, fear and worry that was brewing within her for so long. She couldn't stand it anymore, the smiling, the tip-toeing around the conversation. Any longer like this and Allie was fit to tear her hair out and chuck it at him. Tony paused in his words, looking to her, confused by her small outburst and she took the moment to plough on before he could start up again. "I really am sorry for what I've done, and I don't know how I could ever make it up to you but… but if you plan to arrest me or have me thrown into jail, please just tell me now because I don't think I can take any more of this."

Allie regained her breath, pulling herself upright and gripping the material of her jeans as she tried to find the courage to not back down and cower away beneath his eyes, wishing that he would stop _staring_. Her waggling tongue resumed its position to being stuck to the roof of her mouth, all tired out from saying too much. They maintained eye contact, neither willing to break first as Allie tried to resist the temptation to follow through with her previous idea of flinging herself out the window; Tony shuffled in the chair, elbow up against the back of sofa and hand half covering his mouth, a crease forming between his brow as if he was deep in thought, looking at Allie but not _seeing_ her. It made her want to dart, to be anywhere but there as he did so. Then, his hand moved to press against his cheek, head tilted. She felt uncomfortable as he continued to study her, too conscious of how dreadful she looked from her damp clothes, the blotches of red that were blooming on her pale cheeks, her hair that was drying, albeit too slowly for Allie's liking.

"Who taught you?"

The question stunned Allie and momentarily she forgot what to say, what she was _supposed_ to say.

"My brother."

At that his eyebrows lifted, questioning as Allie realised at what had slipped past her lips, cursing herself inwardly for being so stupid and reckless. "Your brother?"

"He was a half-brother – same dad, different mother," Allie attempted to explain, ignoring the quickening in her chest that was so often present during times like these, moving with speed to step away from the subject before he could ask more. "I taught myself for the most part, but when I couldn't understand something, he taught me."

"So, you're self-taught?" he queried, leaning forward towards Allie, trying to pick her apart and dissect every aspect of her.

"As I said, for the most part," Allie repeated, trying to ignore the croak that hung onto the end of her sentence. Tony gave a hum, pursing his lips and screwing his eyebrows up, creasing digging themselves along his forehead and between his brow. Allie almost wanted to ask him if he was alright due to how _pained_ he looked ( _maybe it's just because he isn't used to thinking so much_ ) but was stopped before she could when he sat up again, as though a revelation had hit him – one Allie was sure she didn't want to know about.

"You know, Allison, I have just the idea to resolve this," he chuckled, beaming and looking too pleased with himself. Allie was becoming more and more convinced that whatever he had thought up, it was something she didn't want to know. He was grinning at her, shuffling closer, his weight causing the cushion seats to dip, and Allie felt herself roll slightly towards him, trying not to be ensnared by the new, ember of hope that things were going to work out for once. "You can come work for me!"

Those embers of hope were quickly snuffed out and Allie was left stunned.

Allie felt her mouth part, lips dropping open to suck in a sharp gasp of air that felt too cold and harsh for her throat, cutting through her as she reeled from his words, from how delighted he seemed to be with himself and how oblivious he was to her reaction.

"I've been sorely lacking an assistant these past few, well, _years_ ," he shrugged, half rushing through his words, making them a mumble that Allie could barely decipher with her short-circuiting brain until he regained his composure, preserving that smile back into its place once more. "And it's just the thing for you! For one, I'll be able to stop you from putting your sticky hands into places you shouldn't be dipping into. And you'll gain life-long experience from me. Quite the bargain and all for the price of not going to prison for the rest of your life – or a couple of years, but we could work it out."

Allie was still trying to catch up with herself, face screwing up as her mouth opened to protest, trying to make sense of it all; his solution after having her cause a security breach in his system and for getting into the email of one of the most powerful women in America, if not the world… was to have her _work_ for him?

It was so ridiculous and insane that Allie's addled brain couldn't get itself together fast enough; work? For Tony Stark? It was a disaster in the making and was something that Allie knew would be completely forbidden, if not for herself but for those around her – Allie would not, could not, be so stupid as to accept. If it wasn't her situation that made it impossible, it was the fact it was such a foolish and impractical thought! The only long-lasting job she had was pouring coffee and Allie had a feeling that working for Tony Stark would be just a tad more difficult; she had no experience as an assistant and she had always been in the customer service industry. How on Earth could she ever work for someone like Tony Stark, someone who was always in the spotlight whether he liked it or not? Not to mention the fact she had no idea how it would even work due to the fact she could barely organise her own life, let alone another person's!

There was so much that made Allie almost revolt from the idea of it, of working for him; apart from the lack of experience (meaning that she had absolutely _no_ experience) as working as an assistant to one of the most powerful and influential people in the world, there was just too much at risk to let herself actually accept the job. Plus, she wasn't even sure how she would even get to her workplace – if she even had a proper one; what did he even do in his spare time when he wasn't saving the world? Wasn't he, technically, retired? Allie had remembered briefly reading some years ago about how he left his position as CEO of Stark Industries and appointed Pepper Potts in his place. What would she be even able to do? Though the idea of actually gaining some, as he put it, 'life-long experience' from Tony Stark was tempting, Allie wasn't foolish enough to actually accept the offer. Finally, Allie caught up with herself as Tony continued to remain ignorant of her silence.

"You really could learn a lot from me, not to toot my own horn, but I really think it can only be an upward slope from working on a Dell laptop of all things – "

"I can't accept."

The words left her, an echo that pulled Tony from his own world, crashing to a screeching halt as Allie stared, wide eyed. Disbelief shrouded him, mouth opening once, twice, three times as he blinked. There was puzzlement, bewilderment knotted in his features. "When you mean you can't accept, you meant…?"

"I mean, I really can't accept," Allie stressed, nerves jittery and trying to ignoring her stomach turning over as the grin on his face was slowly falling from his lips; was that regret she felt? Or maybe it was her wanting to kick her own ass for being so stupid as to decline the offer of a job from one of the richest men in the world as opposed to having him getting her arrested; either way, Allie knew that if he opened his mouth to talk, she would become more inclined to accept, if only for the sake of not being put into prison. "I've never worked as an assistant before, I have no experience at all in the area and I wouldn't even know what to do. Mr. Stark, I… I only know how to make coffee and it's mediocre at that."

"Costa?" he asked.

"Starbucks, actually," she told him before shaking her head and getting back on track. "Listen, I'm flattered, really, but… I'm just not equipped for this job at all. What I did, it was a one-off thing – well, a twice off thing and I would never think to do it ever again; I like my life too much to do that. I just can't accept your offer. I'm sorry."

She ended her small spiel, taking back her voice and awaiting his answer with bated breath as her pondered on her words, as if unused to rejection. For what it was worth, it was the truth for Allie, even if not the whole truth; worry began to settle in her, worry for how he might react, worry for what might happen. Her lip found itself caught between her teeth once more as Tony continued not to speak, slumping back into the chair as if deflated from his earlier delight. Allie couldn't help but think as to how he might reject her rejection and give her an ultimatum: either work for him, or face jail time. She knew that she wouldn't be stupid enough to say no to him then, but every sensible thought in her mind was screaming at her to get up and leave, to relocate somewhere else, far from Tony Stark and his ever-piercing gaze.

Then, Allie found herself beneath his scrutinising stare, the older man leaning in close to her and trying to pick apart whatever uncertainty that lingered in her face as to poke and prod her to accept the job.

"You'd be mad to turn this down," he said, low and steady to Allie. "The pay is good, you'd only have to put up with me for a short amount of time. Not to mention we have dental care."

Despite it all, Allie felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips and she ducked her head to hide it, taking back enough control so as to push it away and be able to turn back to Tony with an apologetic gaze. "I'm really sorry, but I have to say no."

Once more, he appeared deflated and defeated, a sigh bleeding past his lips as he slumped into the sofa once more, lips pursing and tongue clicking, reaching up to ruffle the strands of his hair, freeing Allie of his stare and casting a look to the door, then to the window, peering out and taking in the sight of the fallen sun and how it's hazy, watery light was leaking in through the gaps of the building to spill across the floors of the apartment, specks of dust catching themselves on the light and winking back at the odd couple on the couch. Allie couldn't even hear the other neighbours, who had been so loud before and were now almost non-existent. Her thoughts diverted to Lisa and she wondered where the other woman had gone to, or if she was outside the door, ear pressed up against the wood in a bid to catch any words that might have wriggled out through the gaps of door.

Another heavy sigh brought Allie to look once more at Tony, who already had his eyes on her but there was something in his eyes that Allie could not name, could not place as he _tsk_ ed once more, seeming as if he was peeved at her but that million-dollar smile was put back on for show once more.

"Alright, I know when I'm beat, and no means no, and all that," he sighed, pushing himself towards the edge of the sofa, reaching into his coat pocket, fingers shuffling and grasping for something before his left hand was pulled from the jacket, twisting and turning a small, white card between his fingers, whatever writing, if there was any, too small for Allie to make sense of. Both stared at the card as Tony twisted and turned it in his grip, debating as to whether he should pocket it once more or if he should do what he had first intended. The latter won against the former and Allie watched as he stretched it out to her, clutched between his index finger and middle finger. "But, if you ever change your mind…"

He trailed off, words hanging off, but Allie knew what he meant, and she stared for a moment, wondering if she should affirm once more that she was serious in saying no but it wouldn't do any harm to take the card, would it? If she took it, it wouldn't do either any harm; he might be waiting for two weeks for a call that would never come and she could throw it away, burn it, make sure that it was gone from sight and out of mind. It wouldn't do any harm to take it and, as such, Allie reached a hand out, ignoring the stiffness in her fingers, and took it from him, eyes washing over the front of the card that held his name and what was clearly his number.

She was unsure of what to do with it, to pocket it or place it on the coffee table, so she held it, staring at it, at the black font against the white background and how minimalistic it was. _TONY STARK_ , it said, and she still could not believe how the very same man on the card was in front of her, standing to his feet and fiddling with the buttons on his jacket.

"I guess, I'll show myself out," he commented, reaching into the other pocket to take hold of his phone as Allie pulled her eyes away from the card to look up at him, half ready to get up and join him in standing but seeming too shell shocked to do so. "Good chat, apart from the fact my job offer was completely decimated in front of me."

"Oh… sorry," Allie said, feeling sheepish and clutching onto the card as Tony waved her words away, showing that he wasn't as bothered as he pretended to be.

"I'll survive, somehow," he murmured, before turning fully to Allie, making her get to her feet so as to not appear rude, still fiddling with the edged of the card before Tony thrust out a hand, palm facing outwards, an olive branch. "Good-bye, Allison. Try not to break into any more high security places for the next while."

Allie gave a hollow laugh, unwinding one hand to reach out and, after a pause of hesitation, took his hand in her own; his palm was rough, calloused and Allie could feel the dents and scars that marked themselves into his fingertips. His hand was warm and large than hers, his tan skin contrasting against her own, making her appear that bit paler than she actually was. She wondered if he could feel how sweaty her hand was and hoped that he assumed it was from being out in the rain. His grip tightened on hers for a moment, not sore or bone breaking, and she responded in the same manner, before the two gave a brief shake twice; they held onto each for a moment, waiting for the other to pull back and, for a total of two seconds, Allie held hands with the one and only Tony Stark, unsure if she should take her hand back and trying to ignore the burn of his skin against her that seemed to push away the chilliness that coated her poor bones. Then the two pulled away from one another and Allie took a small step back, taking a sorely needed breath as she flashed him a forced smile. "I'll try not to."

Looking somewhat pleased with the outcome of the visit, Allie watched as Tony Stark give one last nod of acknowledgement and turn to go, crossing over the apartment and Allie felt as if it had not really happened, that it was all some dream that she had concocted in her head. But in her hand, she still held his card and her hair was still limp and loose around her, hanging out to dry as she glanced down to the sofa where, sure enough, lay a wet spot from where she had been sitting seeping into the cushion. She heard the door open and a squeak drew her gaze upwards, to see that, to complete hilarity for Allie and embarrassment for the remaining occupants, Lisa had indeed been standing outside with her ear pressed against the surface of the door and she now stumbled in, just about knocking into Tony Stark before he managed to side step her barrelling self.

Allie quashed a laugh that was threatening to burst past her lips as Lisa turned red, ears pink and attempting to remain innocent as well as ignorant as Tony Stark looked to her, the door still wide open for him to leave.

"Do watch your step, Ms. Turner," Tony said, voice deadpanned and casting a look of disbelief to Allie, who gave a shrug as he shook his head. Lisa remained silent, biting down on her cheek and giving a small nod towards the older man. "Well, then, good day, ladies."

With one brief inclination of the head to Allie, Tony Stark left the apartment, phone in hand and thumb already moving on the screen, attention stolen away from the two women as he exited the door, closing it behind him with a small _click._

All the tension and stress left Allie in a flood, body falling back down into the couch and she never felt so comfortable before in her life as she did then, damp and cold and sore but _safe_. She took her hand up again, eyeing the card once more as she held the edges of it with both hands, index fingers running along the thin, sharp edges that teased a paper cut. It was lamented, clean cut and smart and it seemed so small in her hand, too small to hold something as big as Tony Stark's name as well as his number. Behind her, Lisa let out a whistle.

"He's a lot shorter than I expected," Lisa said, breathless and voice low, as if she was afraid he might hear her and break the door down. Allie stared at the words typed on the small rectangle, still in disbelief that any of this was real, but she gave an unthinking small noise of agreement to Lisa's words, more so to remind the other that she was still here; apartment filled once more with silence before the black-haired woman spoke again. "A Hell of a lot handsomer, too."

"Oh, quiet you," Allie hushed, lost in her own world but able to hear a snort from Lisa, and she could perfectly image the eye roll that was given to her behind her back. Allie tried to tell herself that she needed to change out of her damp clothes, that she needed food and rest and a shower and a hot beverage to recuperate, that she had things to do and she was tired. But still, Allie stared at the card, teeth gnawing on her lip as she was prone to do, before she gave a shake of her head, turning to pocket the damned thing in the back of her jeans.

It wasn't like she was going to need it but, out of sight and out of mind, as it went.

At least, that's what Allie dearly hoped.

* * *

 _ **have i mentioned how astounded I am from the feedback i've gotten from this fic? because i am so flattered and happy by how much you guys are loving this!**_

 _ **also i've decided that this fic takes place over the span of (wait for it) TWO YEARS. At the moment, it's been two months after the whole Ultron shenanigan (2015) and to fit in all the development I have planned out, i will have to push forward a few events. So, as you know, Civil War was released in 2016 but, for purposes of this fic, let's say that it takes place in 2017. Everything will make sense as it pans out but I just wanted to put it out there!**_

 _ **and, as some of you may notice, I have changed the rating from T to M because of some adult themes that do take place, such as graphic death later on. I don't want to give too much away but I just wanted to give you all a warning about the rate change!**_

 _ **i had a hard time writing this for the past week due to this massive heatwave that hit my country this week and we are NOT adapted to withstand this kind of heat! but it cooled down a lot the past two days and i rushed to write before i melted! not to mention that yesterday was my birthday so I indulged in some writing!**_

 _ **Oh! And also, I won't be using Tony's P.O.V that much, only sometimes to move the fic along or just to check back in now and again for some ~plot things~ but there will be times ahead where we will get to look at things from Tony's P.O.V!**_

 _ **Once again, thank you all for such an amazing response!**_

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	5. Chapter Four

_**_Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!_**_

* * *

 _ ** _Chapter Four._**_

Allie was thinking about the card.

She couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop sorting through the mess that was her clothes lying in a heap in the bottom of the laundry basket in the middle of the night and unable to sleep, fishing it out, grasping the small, laminated square and staring at it, at the words, at the numbers set against a blank, empty background to speak for itself.

 _ _TONY STARK.__

That's all it said, no more and no less. Sometimes, she would flip it over, turning it between her fingers deliberately slowly as if she was waiting for something else to appear on the back that she had missed after looking at it for the millionth time. But, as always, it bore no words, no pictures, no slogan or letters that would give away more than what was on the front. It was a small piece of white card that held the number and name of Tony Stark and Allie just could not stop thinking about it.

She would sit there on her bedroom floor, ignoring the harsh surface of the floor and how the coldness of the wood seemed to seep into her bare feet, sleep teasing at the edges of her eyes but dashing away before she could catch it. Instead, each night she would try to sleep and end up failing, scooping the card from beneath the weight of discarded clothes and stare at it, watching as the mistreatment was causing the tips of the corners to bend and dent. Each night she would stare and every time it would return to where it was supposed to be: in the back pocket of her jeans for her to forget.

 _ _Out of sight, out of mind.__

It never left her mind and it was like a plague haunting her.

Allie was half convinced that none of it had actually happened, that her mind had been playing tricks on her after the being out in the cold and the rain, that when she had awoken the next morning with a sore head and blocked nose, it had all been some fever dream her addled brain had concocted up in her hazy sleep; sometimes, she liked to pretend it didn't happen and that it was just some daydream she had dipped her mind into. It was easier than thinking that Tony Stark was out there, waiting for her call, knowing that he had gained access to her files and had sorted through them. It made her anxious, unwilling to pick up the phone for that reason more than anything. And, at times, she had been half tempted to throw the card into the trash and to put it into the dumpster, just to rid herself of the thoughts that were pushing her to accept the job.

Lisa hadn't made it any easier, either; after apologising profusely despite Allie insisting it wasn't her fault, she had poked and prodded at Allie until the latter finally revealed what had transpired in the apartment while Lisa had been formally kicked out, left to press her ear up against the door but unable to catch even a snippet of the conversation. To say she was ecstatic would be an understatement; at first, Lisa had been nearly catatonic and unresponsive before the realisation at what Allie had said hit her.

Then, it had been a few minutes of uncontained squealing, excitement at the fact Allie had been offered to work for __the__ Tony Stark, one of the richest men in the world and how __amazing__ it was that something good had come out of the situation and that Allie would probably end up flushed with cash due to it. She glossed over previous annoyance with being forced out of the place and the fact she had been treated as an unimportant third party and had hugged Allie with unbridled joy.

Until Allie broke the news that she had turned the offer down flat.

Lisa did understand Allie's actions to some degree, saw why Allie was hesitant and unwilling to take the job offer, but, yet, she continued to question Allie on whether she had made the right choice; Allie had been unwilling to listen to her friend, to listen to another viewpoint on the situation because she knew that accepting the job offer was not something that could help her in any good way. If it weren't for the tiny detail of Allie having virtually no experience whatsoever as working as an assistant or, truth be told, __any__ experience besides pouring coffee, the fact that it was __Tony Stark__ of all people made her recoil from the thought of taking the offer up.

Allie had no idea if superheroes had any need of assistants; what did they do in their spare time? Attend birthday parties as an entertainment act? Visit orphanages? Apart from the God-awful PSA's made by Captain America intended for schools and other ventures that Allie had watched on Youtube, there was nothing that really told Allie about what they, meaning the Avengers, did in their spare time when they weren't saving the world.

So, Allie didn't actually know what she would be signing herself up for if she had said yes to him; would her life just consist of trailing after Tony Stark or sitting at a desk, bored and scrolling through her Facebook feed, waiting for the clock to roll around until home time? The one thing Allie liked about the customer service industry was that she was always kept on her toes, moving and preoccupied by one thing and another with no spare thoughts or lingering. The pay may be next to terrible, but money had never really been a big problem for Allie in recent years.

But the more thought Allie put into it, the more it consumed her; she tried not to let it bother her, to not let curiosity get the better of her but it was always there, lingering and lurking and she could not banish it. Superheroes and gods, aliens and monsters – they were a whole different world to Allie and the thought of letting them into her life made her almost buzz at the edges with some sense of excitement that was coupled with wariness. There was not a person in the world who would have loved to be able to step from the world of their mundane life into the one that seemed to be trapped in books and behind television screens.

As much as she fancied the thought, Allie had enough common sense left to know it would do her no good.

All she wanted to do, __needed__ to do, was settle down, keep her life as normal and boring as possible and not dip her toes into anything that could possibly be dangerous; how hard had she worked to get the peaceful and good life that she had now? Adventures were for people who could live without risk and Allie quite liked being in her comfort zone, the walls of safety keeping her secure. She had a good home with a roof and a bed, and that was more than most people got; she had Lisa and she had a stable and steady job.

It was all she could have ever wanted, all she could have ever hoped to achieve.

 _ _So why couldn't she stop thinking about that damned card?__

By the time morning rolled around, Allie knew that she had not slept more than an hour, maybe two hours at most; she sat on her bed, legs caught in the blankets with her back against the wall (the headboard lay propped up in the back of the wardrobe and she had meant to put it back on for the past year), the cold feeling of it long gone as her index finger trailed the top of the card, the material becoming smudged and out of shape at how many times it was mishandled.

 _ _TONY STARK__ , it said and Allie thought it meant to taunt her, teasing and unfair. She tried not to think that a job with Tony Stark – and as his personal assistant, at that – could mean a significant bump in her income, she tried not to think that taking the job could mean she would have access to superior technology which could be used to access her files – maybe an accident could occur and all information on her would be gone and she would be able to fly off to somewhere far, far away.

Or be able to go back home to Ireland.

Allie shook her head, pushing all of those tempting thoughts for her mind and scrunching the card in her hand for the final time, feeling it crumple beneath the pressure of her palm before she threw it to the other side of the room, landing on the small pile of clothes had kicked into a corner. The clock on her bedside table was crawling closer and closer to the time she had set her alarm and Allie was half tempted to lie in the bed until then, mindlessly scrolling through her phone for some form of distraction but decided against it, knowing that if she lingered beneath the warm blankets she would drift off and be torn from her sleep almost instantly. With an exhausted sigh, Allie reluctantly tore herself from the cocoon of her bed, shivering at the feeling of the cold floorboards beneath her feet.

She felt sluggish, eyes heavy and almost dragging her down as Allie found herself berating her damned mind and its inability to realise that sleep was a basic human function needed to survive; at moments, she paused and entertained the brief thought of perhaps calling in a sick to work but quickly shook the idea from her head. Despite how many times the suggestion floated through her mind, Allie couldn't remember the last time she pulled a sickie – or even had a sick day. Work was work, and she needed the extra money – or, rather, __wanted__ the extra money.

Yet, as Allie dressed, the thought of calling in sick to work became more and more enticing, her eyes flickering to the bed and its messed-up sheets, looking that bit more comforting and inviting than it had ever been. But Allie was nothing if not a trooper, and she continued her menial morning tasks, putting on her socks, searching for the other shoe, giving up and deciding to go back and look for it later as she brushed her teeth with only one of the pair on her foot.

Her hair was a mess of kinks and knotty curls, begging to be brushed but she knew that the second the bristles would touch the strands that they would explode upon her head. Deciding to save the painful task of combing through the bush for her future self, Allie piled the usually tame curls atop of her head, careful to catch the wisps that fell at the back of her neck. Reassured that everything was tucked away, Allie ran the cold water tap, cupping her hands beneath the steady stream and watching it overflow before she brought her head down, splashing herself with the pooling puddle. For a moment, all went cold and sleep was momentarily banished; pulling back, Allie took a hold of the towel hanging beside the sink to catch all droplets of water that threatened to roll down her jaw and stain her uniform. Along her hairline, damp baby hairs clung to the skin and Allie ran the towel over them, quickly hoping to dry them before she caught her eyes in the mirror.

Dark violet smudges hung beneath her eyes, heavy and deep set from the amount of nights she had been unable to catch any sleep, reminders left behind by exhaustion. She seemed paler too, though it might be due to the splash of cold water rather than the restlessness that plagued her; her freckles were more pronounced along the bridge of her nose that dashed across the plains of her cheeks and she could catch sight of the lingering acne scars of her teenage and early adult years that were dotted along her cheeks. The wet strands of her hair gave the appearance of it being greasy and Allie cringed at her reflection; all in all, she truly looked like a mess.

Resigned, Allie placed the towel back in its original place and turned away from the image of herself, electing to flick the kettle on and hopefully find comfort in a cup of tea.

The world was quiet, slumbering before the inevitable break of dawn and the chirping of car horns and whistling of city life; everything seemed that bit more peaceful, sunlight not yet seeping in through the window, the golden fingers somehow finding their way through the maze of buildings and, despite the early morning coldness of the apartment, Allie didn't feel the ripple of goose bumps roll along her bare arm, the short sleeved shirt being somewhat impractical but effective in the workplace. When the kettle clicked, she filled her cup with the tea bag and set about looking for her other shoe, not trusting her mind to stay put and not run off with her thoughts.

After discovering her shoe lay stuck beneath her bedside table, Allie slipped it on, taking her bag that was resting behind the door and returned to the steaming cup on the table, the colour turning from a watery auburn to a deep and dark brown. Her stomach felt unable to take food, and Allie knew from past experiences that forcing something down her gullet would make her feel bloated and queasy, deciding it would be better to let her gut be. Already, she could hear the world waking outside, small stretches of the sun floating through the window and highlighting all the stains on the glass, resting out on the floorboards as Allie took a seat at the table, slipping the strap of her bag on the back of the chair as her hands wrapped around her mug and in silence.

Then, her mind turned once more to Tony Stark.

Less so his job offer, more so the man himself; prior to their meeting, Allie had not much knowledge about him save that he was rich and that he saved the world once or twice. She knew how much the media outlets loved him (she vaguely remembered reading a Buzzfeed article about his style in pants once) and that there was always something to report on him.

Of course, that had been before the Sokovia ordeal and rarely did Allie see any new pieces of information about him flooding her timeline the past nearly three months.

But, during these last two weeks, Allie could not help herself from seeking out new information about him and she eventually caved, looking him up; from his Wikipedia page to random headlines ranging from before she was born to a few weeks ago, she had tried to find any scrap of information she could. Most of it had been useless, of course, written by those who sought to raise him up as some kind of demi-god or those who were clearly biased in examining his achievements due to long running hatred of him and sought to insult him at every turn.

Occasionally, she would stumble on something useful; how he was the money source of the Avengers and completely funded their gear and their weapons, even creating a few of them himself. How he created the Stark Relief foundation to aid those in recovery or affected by The Incident, Sokovia or by any other disaster even if the Avengers had nothing to do with it. She read on his Wikipedia page (which had been so long that her eyes ached after reading it) about how he managed to create a clean, renewable energy source that currently being outsourced before worldwide usage. When he had shut down his weapons manufacturing department seven years prior, the industry lulled from the loss of a titan and all Stark weapons were scrapped and those that remained in the hands of terrorists or the like were now outdated and inferior to the technology of today. But that didn't mean they couldn't do damage and, as such, Stark Industries even created a department that saw to the clean up and dismantling of old Stark weapons around the world, not wanting any more death and damage done to the world.

And the more she read, the deeper she fell into the rabbit hole.

Despite her insisting that it was simply for research into her potential career, Allie had a feeling that Lisa knew it was more than that.

Because part of Allie was, begrudgingly, beginning to respect Tony Stark, despite all the countless articles that described as being a narcissistic, egocentric asshole. For every displeasing trait that he supposedly had, as said by the media, there were two, even three more redeeming qualities and actions that ranged from how he singlehandedly saved a small town called Gulmira, to the fact he had saved nearly the entirety of New York, in which resided eighteen million people.

As such, Allie was finding it harder and harder to convince herself that working for Tony Stark was possibly one of the worst ideas she ever had – and she had a lot of them in the past. She chewed on her lip, twisting her cup in her hand a feeling the heat of her drink seep into her palms; she wondered if working for him meant that she could also do some good, to actually __do__ something with her life rather than sit around, waiting on people with a fake smile and even faker voice, letting each day pass by with her head ducked down because being invisible meant peace and peace meant an easy life. Yet the thought of doing some good stuck in her mind, and if Tony Stark managed to become a hero in the eyes of the people, being a decent and respectable human being despite his past wrongs, couldn't she do the same? Couldn't she be able to wipe the slate of her past mistakes as he had done for nearly thirty-eight years?

"Hey, you're up early."

Allie started, nearly knocking over her cup and spilling the cooling tea onto the table top, eyes darting to Lisa; her friend made her way through the kitchen, hair mussed up and eyes bleary as she flicked the kettle back on, letting it rumble as she made her way over to sit beside Allie, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Allie straightened her back in her chair, scooting in closer towards the lip of the table and clearing her throat, pulling herself from her previous thoughts.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," was all she said, nearly wincing at how drained and resigned she sounded. It seemed that Lisa picked up on her tone too, frowning and shifting closer in her chair towards Allie and placing her elbows on the table, cupping her chin as her green eyes stared piercingly.

"That seems to be a common occurrence these past few nights," Lisa commented, sounding much like a disapproving mother. A small smirk graced the curve of her lips. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"What, only a penny? I'm sure my thoughts a lot more valuable than a penny," Allie said wryly, hoping to lighten her own mood as Lisa gave an amused exhale, sitting back in her chair and slumping, ankles crossed and bare feet resting atop of Allie's shoes so as to not touch the cold ground.

"How about me finally doing the laundry then?" Lisa offered and Allie rolled her eyes, doing little to quash her smile as she pushed the cup containing the last few drams of her lukewarm tea away into the middle of the table, copying Lisa's sitting position as she stretched her legs out, the feel of Lisa's heels digging into her barely bothering her.

"Wow, it's almost as if you __don't__ have to abide by the chores chart we have," Allie commented, snorting and crossing her arms over her chest as the kettle went off behind her, clicking and it's rumbling slowing as Lisa stood, retracting her feet and hand hitting Allie's bicep playfully as she went to get her own morning cup of lemon tea. The peace and serenity that had been present when Allie had awoken was now long gone and she could hear the traffic picking up, car horns honking and the murmuring of the neighbours' television through the walls and the echoing thumps of the people living in the apartment above her. Allie stretched her arms above her head, sighing as she continued to mutter beneath her breath. "I mean, it isn't as if you always leave it until last minute like two weeks ago after Tony Stark came and ruined everything."

She must not have been as quiet as she thought as when Lisa went to reclaim her seat, a deeper frown pulled at her lips, eyebrows knotting and a crease deepening as she placed the cup down in front of her, the tab of the teabag swinging as she pulled the chair into the table. Something akin to concern graced Lisa's features and the joking mood dissipated.

"You're being awfully dramatic at this time in the morning – and that's __me__ that's saying that," Lisa remarked, taking a sip from her drink and pulling a face at the taste before placing it back down, looked to Allie with a sudden seriousness. "What's up, Al? You've been acting awfully weird."

Allie had hoped that Lisa wouldn't have noticed, but she knew that would never be the case. There was not a thing that went by with one of them that the other didn't notice. At times, Allie was grateful at their close friendship, how intuitive and in tune they were with each other that they didn't need words at times to communicate because of how Lisa knew how she was and vice versa. But there were times when the concern of one annoyed the other; Allie remembered how when Lisa had broken up with her first boyfriend, she had snapped at Allie to let her be alone and cope with her heartbreak by herself and there was a time when, once, she had hissed at Lisa to leave off with all the smothering after a particularly draining day that was worsened with the fact that it had been __that__ time of the year, remembering how her brother had left and how alone she was.

Over the years, the two of them learned how the other wanted to cope when something was bothering the other. What had been bothering her these past few weeks didn't feel so big and Allie shook her head, resisting the urge to sigh. Sighing seemed to be all she had been doing these past few weeks and she was pretty sure that someone was going to smack her upside the head if she didn't stop it.

"It's nothing, Leese," Allie insisted, voice sounding weak and not at all convincing. At this, Lisa deepened her scowl, her pretty face twisting as she scooted her chair closer towards Allie, legs scraping on the floor and making Allie wince at the sound as if seemed to scream in her ears.

"Hey, no, you're not allowed to do that," Lisa said, voice soft and comforting as she let her hand rest atop of Allie's shoulder, fingers giving it a light squeeze before pulling back. Allie wasn't much for physical affection, save for when she was drunk or when Lisa was distraught, but she found consolation in the touch for the brief second it lasted. "Come on, what is it? It'll make you feel better."

A breath was building up in Allie's lungs, chest climbing and climbing as she mulled over her words, as her hands laced atop of the laminated table, picking out the knots in the wood and the stains that had accumulated throughout the years of abuse from hot plates and spillage. Releasing the air that had been expanding in her lungs, Allie reached a hand up to tuck away any loose strands that sprung free from her bun, clicking her tongue against her teeth before she spoke.

"No, really," she sighed, weary from her lack of sleep and from the thoughts that had been hammering away at her skull for the past two weeks. "It's just… I've been thinking – "

"Wow, you? Think?" Lisa quipped and Allie couldn't help the snicker that left her lips without her permission.

"Yeah, it's this rare phenomenon that you should try some time," Allie retorted and Lisa let out a small bark of laughter at her words. Allie then felt more relaxed, the tension and uncertainty in her dripping away as she managed to find the words she had been searching for this entire time. "Anyway, I've been thinking about this whole 'working for Tony Stark' thing."

"And?" Lisa asked, quirking an eyebrow at her words as Allie gave a small shrug, defeated from the constant thinking and the restless nights; she began wishing that she had stayed in bed and pulled a sickie.

"That's it – I've just been thinking about it," she continued, not delving any further. While it may have been the truth, Allie didn't go into how it consumed her, how she had searched far and wide (meaning she typed it into Google) for anything and everything to do with Tony Stark. She even looked up what a personal assistant did, not wanting to ask Lisa since she had only done it once or twice and that had been years ago and none of her bosses had been Tony Stark.

"And what have you concluded so far?" Lisa pushed, prodding Allie to keep speaking but already Allie could feel a deep rooted dull ache clawing its way through her mind to her temples.

"Nothing – aside that I get nothing but a headache while I do it," she muttered bitterly, trying to dispel the growing pain with a shake of her head, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes as she did so, dragging in a deep breath in hopes to untangle the mess in her brain and letting it free again, hand dropping to the table top again, index finger tracing the rings on the wood. Her teeth grasped the inside of her cheek, chewing on it before an exasperated groan left her. "I know that anyone would be lucky to be in my shoes right now and I feel like… I just feel so stupid for turning it down, but I know that it's the right thing."

"But do you __feel__ like it's the right thing?"

"Yes? That's literally what I just said, Leese," Allie responded, screwing her face up at Lisa's words but her friend shook her head, black hair bouncing around her as she did so before she pulled herself in closer to Allie, placing her hand on Allie's and squeezing it, earnest and seemingly solemn as she spoke.

"But I mean do you really, __really__ feel like it's the right thing?" Lisa ploughed on, voice no longer light and making Allie doubt herself, doubt her decision. Lisa took her hand back and heaved a sigh, running her hands through her bed head before turning once more to Allie. "Al, you know I'll support you through thick and thin and if you really do feel like turning him down is what's in your best interests what with… well, __everything__ , then I won't ever say a word against your decision. But if you have any inkling of doubt… I think maybe you should at least give him a call."

"I don't know, Leese…" Allie hesitated, shifting in her seat but hearing the sense in Lisa's words. The debate for accepting the offer began to outweigh all the disadvantages that had previously been in the winning.

"Just give him a call, yeah?" Lisa smiled, reassuring and gentle, once more going to rest her hand on Allie's arm for a brief second before pulling back. Despite the talk and Lisa's words, it made Allie feel more torn than anything because, despite knowing that Allie shouldn't accept, she felt compelled to with all the positives that outweighed the negatives. "You don't have to accept, but at least try and think about it. Or better yet: think about the __money__."

"You just want a new T.V," Allie joked and Lisa placed a hand of her heart, the other pushing her cooling drink away, a small smile on her lips.

"You know me so well."

"I'm not taking a new job so you can record __Game of Thrones,__ " Allie responded, voice dead pan and Lisa's face twisted into an appearance of faux disappointment. The change in mood lightened Allie, briefly making her feel not as exhausted or weighed down as she had been.

"It's hard keeping up with everything, okay!" Lisa pouted and Allie didn't bother to stop her eyes from rolling, feeling quite in the teasing mood.

"Then you should have watched it like the rest of us when it first came out."

"You're mean."

"And I'm also going to be late, so I'll see you later," Allie stated, getting to her feet and grabbing her drink to pour it down the sink, deciding to wash it later when she got home. Lisa took her phone from her pocket, checking the time as Allie took her bag, checking to see if she had everything from her phone to the light rain jacket she had stuffed down at the bottom and turned to go.

"But you're not late?" Lisa said, and Allie threw a wave over her shoulder, letting the words rush over her head, bag bouncing on her thigh.

"Bye, Leese! Get the laundry done or I'll personally kick your ass!"

"As if you could reach it!"

* * *

Work always seemed to follow a pattern; in the morning, when she would first arrive, it would be a ghost town, not a single customer in sight until the clock stuck nine and then the floodgates would open, person after person pouring in as Allie tried to keep atop of the work. Years of working there had made her act on muscle memory alone, never doubting herself as she made each drink, varying it for the customer's taste and then moving on to the next one, lost in a mindless cycle of smiling, saying ' _ _Hi! How can I help you today?__ ' and then making their drink before sending them on their coffee fuelled, merry way. And then the rush lulled, leaving the staff to find something to do so as to not appear lazy until they completed all possible tasks, left with nothing to do except wait.

And each time, Allie would find herself once more in that rabbit hole, walls made out of thoughts of extra money and Tony Stark. She stood behind the counter where the customers would line up, eyeing the door and waiting for someone to come but it remained unopened. And the clocked began to tick by, the soft croon of the stereo a gentle wave that rushed through the shop as Allie found herself wondering once more.

After her talk with Lisa in the morning, she had been beginning to doubt her choice more and it annoyed her that she was blowing this out of proportion; it was a stupid job for Tony Stark, nothing more and nothing less.

 _ _But it isn't just that,__ echoed a voice in the back of her mind. It wasn't just a job, it was a potential risk. Who knows what might happen? She could imagine a thousand and one possible dangerous scenarios, of aliens and monsters attacking and her being dragged along. It seemed ridiculous, but it was enough to make her wary. Plus, there was no telling how much he knew, or that he knew more than he had let on and that was enough to send alarm bells ringing in her head. She mulled over her thoughts, lost in her own world and unable to take notice of the one around her; it all boiled down to money, in the end and it was becoming the biggest factor in pushing her to make the call. The wage she made here was next to shit, but money was never really a problem, but she didn't want to depend on her money source. All Allie longed to do is to finally becoming independent, to be able to do as she wished without having to worry about suddenly becoming dirt poor.

And, in her head, she wondered if working for Tony Stark was really any more dangerous than what she had gotten herself into before.

She didn't have to work for him for the rest of her life, a year might do, maybe even less. Saving up the money wouldn't be the most difficult thing to do as she had spent the better part of her life doing it. She wasn't an avid shopper or impulse buyer, and rent was controlled, not to mention that Lisa had secured a job interview after quitting her last job; after the whole ordeal with Tony Stark, she had waited a week before resubmitting her resumé to Pepper Potts a few days ago, unable to check her email for a response and making Allie do it for her. So far, there had been no confirmation and Lisa took it as a sign that she hadn't been accepted gracefully.

The more thought she put into it, the more sense it made to take the opportunity.

Maybe it would be better to leave it to a coinflip from how damn indecisive she was about it all.

"Allison!"

Allie jumped and her eyes flew to Francis, who seemed less than pleased as he continued to eye her, head cocked to the side and arms over his chest before he gestured in front of her. Confused, she turned her gaze to see a rather unimpressed middle-aged woman standing before her, thin lips pressed together and sharp eyes narrowing at the barista. Allie felt her face go up in flames, cheeks burning and stained pink as she tried to force that smile back on her face but knew it looked lopsided, crooked and menacing.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Miss, how can I help you?" Allie croaked out, voice not as sugary sweet as it should have been and the woman spat out her order, looking rather unpleased and her face pinched, as if a lemon had been shoved into her mouth. Francis lingered near her, following her move as she made the drink, a simple caramel latté with whipped cream on top and turned to hand it to the customer, exchanging money before the woman turned on her heel and left, sipping on her drink. As she left, Francis stepped closer to Allie, a disapproving look on his face and Allie felt herself shrink up.

"What is up with you for the last few days? You've been spacing out a lot," he frowned, keeping his voice low as he clicked his tongue. There were rarely any times where Francis was as serious as he was now and Allie felt that hot rod of shame burn its way through her. "I don't really want to be __that__ kind of manager, Al, but you can't keep this up."

"I know, Fran, I'm really sorry – " Allie stumbled, trying to find the right words before he held a hand up to effectively cut her off, her mouth clamping shut and trying not to cast her eyes to the ground.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, Al," he said, shaking his head and his brown eyes softened slightly. "I know it's none of my business and I'm not going to cross the line, but whatever it is that's been at you, figure it out soon. This kind of behaviour isn't professional."

Allie nodded her head in agreement and scratched the back of her neck, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Not to make a bad situation worse, but that was kind of hot – you being all authoritative and whatnot."

"A habit I've picked up from the bedroom," he sighed dreamily, a small grin on his face as he gave a wink. If there was one thing Allie could count on Francis for, it was for him not to hold any kind of grudge against people. It seemed he wanted to move past the reprimand as quickly as Allie did.

"Okay, now I regret saying that and I'm just going to burn my ears off," Allie groaned, scrunching her nose up as he chuckled at her reaction.

"Instead of doing that, how about wiping down the tables? Kerri is sick, and Kyle has been picking up after you all week."

"Talk about __harsh__."

"Talk about being a lazy employee," he barked back without any bite.

"I'll give you that, but come on, Fran, you used to be way worse."

"Yes, until I became manager and realised I actually have to do stuff and run the place. Now go help Kyle clean up while the crowd is thin," he said, shooing her away to where the only other guy on staff was, reaching across a table to mop up a spill that someone had made moments prior before they left. She took a spare rag from beneath the counter, running it through her fingers as she made her way over to Kyle, whistling quietly to herself as the smell of the upturned drink hit her nose. As she neared the spill zone, Kyle turned his eyes upwards to meet her gaze and Allie gave a small wave of the rag in her hand to signal her intention. He gave her a grateful smile and the two began to take everything off the table.

"Francis looked like he was really giving out to you over there," Kyle said to her in a low voice as they worked, pulling Allie's attention to him and away from the small, beige puddle.

"Nah, not really," Allie shrugged, giving the table top a wipe down, already seeing the cloth in her hand soak up the liquid. Kyle was only a few years younger than her and had been working there for half a year already. Behind his glasses were a pair of brown eyes set beneath a mop of honey hair, strands catching in his eyelashes. He was a pretty cool kid, in Allie's opinion, and he never took anything to offence; contrary to many newbies, he settled in quickly and got the gist of the work instantly. They even had gone for lunch together a few times when they got the same break time. "I get why he had to reprimand me, or whatever, and he wasn't too horrible. Just doing what any other manager would do."

"I've had worse managers," Kyle told her, the two attempting to get rid of any trace of the drink and catching any drops that might fall to the floor. Allie wasn't sure where Francis was and threw a look over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of him tending to another customer. Normally, she wouldn't be so unsure about chatting during work, but she had already annoyed him enough for one morning. Seeing that he wasn't paying any attention and was far out of ear shot gave her a bit of confidence to keep the conversation flowing. "One actually made me cry once because he wouldn't stop yelling at me for not wiping down a top shelf that had dust on it."

"Yikes," she whistled, throwing the soaked rag into a nearby bin and grabbing a handful of paper towels to give to Kyle, taking his own cloth to dump it in the bin. Allie was lucky that she never had a boss so terrible as that, but there had been a few that just might compete with it.

"Not too bad, I guess," Kyle shrugged, handing her half of the bundle of napkins and rearranging them so they sat folded over one another instead of being scrunched up as she had done. "He got caught stealing from the store and was fired. Now, he leaves in some shitty apartment and got divorced."

"Oh, my God," Allie all but gasped, blinking at his words. __Talk about unlucky karma,__ she muttered to herself and Kyle lifted his shoulders once more in response, finishing the menial task of cleaning up in silence.

It was then that it hit Allie that this would be her chance to ask Kyle about what had been bothering her all these weeks; she was pretty sure that he was into the whole Avengers and aliens thing, many of the young kids (she said as if she wasn't a young adult and was really an old woman) were into that and she specifically remembered how he had actually been trying to talk to her about them some time back before she shut him down with the fact she had no interest in the subject. Allie chewed on her lip, slowing her actions as she tried to find the right words to open up with; she didn't want to ask him out right but playing stupid wouldn't do her any favours and he would know she was putting it on. He was a smart kid and Allie knew he was a more reliable source than Cosmopolitan and their senseless interviews.

"Say, Kyle…" She began slowly, dragging the words out as she passed her wadded paper towel back and forth in her palms, clicking her tongue as they finished, standing back and scrunching the napkins to throw into the bin. He didn't seem to notice anything strange about her tone and they ploughed on with their task, replacing all the sugar packets and milk back onto the table.

"Yeah?"

"You're into the whole Avenging thing, right?" she asked and his head perked up, eyes narrowing behind his glasses as a scoff left him, hands wiping on the front of his apron. She attempted to remain nonchalant but doubted that it worked as he rolled his eyes at her words.

"They're the Aveng _ _ers,__ and yes, I guess I am," he answered, pursing his lips and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose after they slipped from how he been bending over the table during the clean-up. Allie a small hum, mulling over her words and what to ask without being conspicuous before he continued speaking. "And I'd say I'm pretty up to date on them. Not as fanatic as some people are. There are literally people who write self-insert fanfiction with Captain America and Iron Man on the internet – or write the two of them in a relationship."

Allie scrunched her face up at his words, recoiling at them – less so at the thought of Captain America and Iron Man going at it, but mostly wondering how anyone would have the time to write things like that, or why they would even want to write something like that. "I __really__ did not need, or want, to know about that."

"It's a thing, and I suggest you stay away from it," he warned lightly, amused by her reaction before he crossed his arms over his chest, head tilted to the side and curious, seeing through her façade. "Anyways, why do you ask?"

"Just…" Allie trailed off, looking to her nails and picking at the dirt stuck beneath the curved stumps. "Wondering if you know what they do day to day in their daily lives. Like, do they actually __do__ anything?"

 _ _Wow, Allie, you're amazing at this! He won't ever suspect a thing!__

"Apart from saving the world?" he quizzed, eyebrow cocked and Allie pulled her eyes away from her hands to give a half-hearted nod of confirmation, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks from how utterly __terrible__ she was at acting. Still, he didn't tease her for anything so that was better than what she had thought would happen. Once more he adjusted his glasses and swept away the long strands of his hair, obviously thinking about her words before he gave a reply. "I guess so. I mean, Captain America used to work with the government or some secret branch of it, I think."

"What about the, uh, the Iron Guy?" __Please, stop.__

"Iron __Man__. You really should know his name since he did save us all by flying a nuke through space."

"Iron Man is his actual birth name?"

"Please, tell me you're joking."

He looked at her as if she was really as stupid as she was pretending – maybe she __was__ as stupid as she thought she was acting to be. Even Allie winced at her words but brushed them off with a laugh, once more glancing behind her to see Francis still tending to another customer, taking an order and not looking to find where his remaining staff were loitering. She waved her hand, as if to show she has only pretending and decided that maybe playing dumb wasn't the best course of action.

"Of course, I am," she reassured, though he still seemed slightly unimpressed by her choice of words and Allie could already tell she was losing her very valuable cool points (something Kyle had dubbed whenever Allie rarely understand any of his pop culture references – she hadn't had the heart to tell him that she was only pretending most of the time) from how she was acting. It wasn't that big of a deal and Allie shook herself internally, pushing her to stop being a big coward and just ask Kyle what she wanted to know. "This Tony Stark guy – does he actually do anything? I know he retired from his company a while back."

"I don't know," Kyle said after a brief pause of thought, reaching down to straighten the sugar packets on the table. There were no customers within hearing range of them but it still wouldn't look good to just linger around talking instead of working. "I read a few articles on some fan sites that try to keep up. He used to do charity balls and attend events for people affected by The Incident, or something. He'd raise money, give speeches, the whole shebang."

"Used to?" She repeated, picking the word up and copying Kyle by pretending to work, still focused on the conversation and berating herself from not just asking the younger boy about all of this weeks back instead of having to be cursed with sleepless nights and headaches. Kyle gave a grim nod and his voice dropped, as if they were discussing some forbidden and solemn topic.

"After the whole Sokovia thing – "

"You mean the thing with the evil robot that lifted an entire city from the ground and made it fly?"

"Yeah, that. Anyway, with that whole things he's been kind of MIA for a while," Kyle confirmed, using his apron to give the table top another wipe down as Allie shuffled around the table, going closer towards Kyle so as to hear him better. They were now further from the sight of both Francis and the customers and the idea of them talking about something that was not allowed was feeling more and more real. "The fan sites haven't really been updated in a while because of how reclusive he is now."

"Oh," she said softly, frowning at his words. She knew that he had been locking himself away – she couldn't go onto Facebook or Twitter without seeing useless headlines that described how much of a shut in he was – such a turn when there were countless articles about how extroverted he was. What with how much of a shitshow Sokovia was, and partly being responsible for the deaths of hundreds, coupled with the fact his long-time girlfriend had broken up with him, Allie didn't blame him for wanting some privacy. It seemed that he was the only one on the team that wanted some peace of mind as, once in a while, there would be an update on Avenger activities, from high alien tech being recovered, to gangs of terrorists attacking civilian places at home and abroad – all of the team would be taking part, sans Tony Stark and that hammer god, Thor.

"I wouldn't blame him," Kyle said, unknowingly agreeing with her thoughts as they ran through her mind. His tone seemed low and somewhat bleak, as if a part of him was upset by the fact Tony Stark was an introverted recluse. "With the amount of hate the entire team is getting and __especially__ him, I'd want to shut myself away forever, too."

That pulled her up short and she stood, taking a break from her fake working, blinking at his words and eyebrows furrowing together. She knew that the team had been getting hate ever since The Incident, mostly due to the reparations that needed to be paid from the amount of damage done to the city, and it had tripled since Sokovia, but she hadn't known Stark was getting the brunt of it; from what she had read over the past two weeks, it seemed to her that he was the one doing the most to help the city recover from the damages done by the Avengers, from pooling money and resources, providing aid to the injured and those trapped. It had been stated by numerous journalists and media outlets that, without Stark's help, the city would have taken years to recover as much as it did over the past two months.

In truth, out of all the Avengers, he seemed to be the __only__ one providing help to Sokovia.

"That sounds a bit… unfair," she finally said after deciding on her words, not quite articulating how she felt it to be almost __unjust__ that Tony was bearing the brunt of the criticism towards the Avengers when he was the only trying to right their mistakes and misdoings. "I mean, understand why people are angry and hateful but…"

She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence but Kyle heaved a sigh, as if he agreed with her words too.

"I know. He's basically funding the entire city's recovery and whatnot," he explained, voice heavy and Allie could tell he was definitely upset by it. He must have been fifteen or sixteen when The Incident happened and idolising the Avengers for his generation of teens was like idolising Britney Spears for her generation when she was his age. And she knew how much he looked up to them, he lived in a time where kids could actually talk to superheroes in real life and not just see them in movies. "But, some guys will always been seen as bad no matter how much good they do."

* * *

Allie was thinking about the card again.

But this time, it wasn't a case that it was bothering her and making her frustrated, but rather she was trying to remember where she put it.

Coming home, Allie made herself to first do what she needed to do before she even thought about calling Tony Stark. Her brain was on complete shut down as she set about finishing her chores for the day, washing the plates and dishes that lay in the sink upturned, ordering dinner from a cheap Chinese takeout due to the fact fresh food was sorely lacking in the apartment as Allie spent her days working and Lisa was busy trying to find a job. Then, she showered and sorted through the tangles in her hair, wincing and cursing at her past self for leaving her to deal with the mess before managing to comb through the knots. Her feet ached that little bit less and she felt better, cleaner and whatever exhaustion that had been hanging over her the past few days seemed to scamper, disappearing when she needed it the most.

She needed sleep, __wanted__ sleep, to clear her mind and focus her thoughts. Despite how early it was, Allie turned in to bed, wrapping the blankets around her as tightly as she could, pulling the covers up over her ears in order to drown the sound of the late city life but leaving her nose peaking out through a crack, curling into a ball on her side as she willed herself to sleep.

And then the count-down began.

 _ _A hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…__

Her eyes were squeezed shut and she focused in on her breathing, ignoring the whispers of the voices pleading with her to get up and out to find the card buried beneath the pile of clothes stuck in the corner of her room. Lisa had done the washing that day but left the clothes that weren't in the washing basket alone, not wanting to take anything in case Allie had wanted to wear it the next day.

 _ _Eighty-three, eighty-two, eighty-one…__

She banned herself from going on her phone because she knew what would have happened had she allowed herself to browse through any of her social media. Watching T.V did little help either and all the while she knew all this trouble could be dealt with if __she just picked up the damned phone.__

 _ _Seventy-six, seventy-three… seventy…__

It would take a few seconds, nothing more nothing less. Yes or no, it wasn't that hard.

 _ _Eighty-one, eighty-three, eighty-four…__

Tighter and tighter she curled in on her side, blankets pulled from the corner of her mattress and darting half up the bed from the force. A few moments would banish away all these hours of restlessness.

 _ _Ninety-six, ninety-seven…__

She couldn't take it anymore.

 _ _Ninety-eight…__

All she had to do was make one damned call and she was acting like a drama queen!

 _ _Ninety-nine…__

Yes, or no. Yes, or no.

 _ _One hundred!__

Allie pulled herself from her bed, throwing the blankets from her and all the warmth instantly burst free, leaving her vulnerable to the coldness of the night. She felt downright infuriated with her own self, furious that she was making such a big deal out of one small job offer. __But only if he knew, if only anyone knew.__ But, no more, she would withstand this no more.

Yes, or no.

It was that simple.

Allie swung her legs from the bed, reaching over to flick on her cheap lamp and instantly the room flooded with a dull light, burning at the edges of her eyes but Allie would not let herself try to get used to it, already flinging herself from the mattress to the pile of clothes that hid the buried treasure she longed to find. Allie tore at the pile, shaking every loose piece of fabric for the damned thing, becoming worried when she couldn't find the card until it fluttered down beside her bare feet, facing upwards and gleaming.

 _ _TONY STARK.__

That damned bastard had been making her lose sleep for the past two weeks and someone had to answer for it. Not caring for the time, Allie picked up the small rectangle, moving back towards her bed and perching on the edge of the mattress, feeling it sink down slightly as she reached over to take a hold of her phone, unlocking it and nearly hissing at the level of the screen's brightness. Ignoring the pain in her eyes from the glare of her phone and the pain of not wearing her glasses for a long period of time, Allie opened up the calling pad, punching in the numbers instantaneously without needing to look at the card, having memorised the sequence from all the times she had stared at it for hours on end. Finished and still on a roll with her sudden bout of courage, Allie pressed call and placed it to her ear, a pause of silence before she heard the ringing through the speaker.

Then she feels the panic once more.

A small part is yelling at her to hang up, to just pretend she had never done what she was doing and her heart rate spiked as the ringing got longer and longer, half hoping that he wouldn't pick up and just assume that it was a call from a different number and not believe that it was her. Her mouth became dry and the wings of a hummingbird beat in her chest, threatening to burst as her shaky breathing grew louder and louder. Her thumb was moving across the screen and hovering over the red hang up button and she was half tempted to hang up and being nearly ready to do so. __This is a mistake, this is a mistake, this is a –__

"Hello?"

He picked up.

 _ _Shit.__

"Oh! Mr. Stark," Allie fumbled, gripping the phone so tightly to the point she thought it would crack beneath the strain. Her heart rate elevated in her chest and she could feel her cheeks burning brightly, making her think that she would end up in flames. She wondered if he could hear the waver in her voice. "I'm so sorry to have called you so late at night, I didn't mean to – "

"Wake me from my first proper sleep in a few days? It's fine, it isn't as if sleep is a basic human function we need to survive," Stark commented, voice snarky but obviously thick with sleep, making her wince at his words. She knew all too well how annoyed he would be feeling; if Lisa had tried waking Allie up after being so long without a proper sleep then there would have been World War Three, Four and Five consecutively. Allie felt that awkwardness bubble in her, shifting on the edge of her mattress as her ankles crossed herself, trying to quell the nervousness in her. Truth be told, he didn't sound __too__ irritated towards her, and she could hear movement on the other side of the line.

"If you need it survive, how come you said it was your first proper one in days?" She joked, not realising the words were being said until her mouth shut itself once more. __Way to make a bad situation worse__ , she berated herself but she heard him give a snort at what she had said, making Allie relax somewhat, rigid form turning slack.

"Anyway, what can I do for you?" he said, voice clearer and he sounded less… well, grumpy than he had been when he picked up. Allie tore her fingers into the small dram of courage she had left to force the words out.

"It's Allison, Mr. Stark, Allison Lawrence – " Allie began but was promptly cut off by the voice of Tony Stark.

"Yes, I know it's you," Stark said, not as exasperated as he should have been after being called so late at night. On the other end, she could hear movement, that he was either getting out of bed or beginning to move about in his room. "I met you nearly three weeks ago in your apartment and I have your number saved to my phone. Plus, the voice gave it away."

She blinked as words, alarm bells going off in her head.

"Wait, how do you have my phone number?"

"There's nothing a person can't get online, nowadays," he told her, as if to say __duh__ and she nearly smacked her forehead for being stupid. This was __Tony Stark,__ and she already knew that he had enough information on her as it was already. So what surprise was it that he also had her phone number? Though a gross invasion of privacy, it made Allie felt stupid for not thinking that he would have her number. "You should really change your privacy settings on Facebook."

"Oh. Right." And there was that, too, she guess.

"So, did you just wake me up at… God, is it three a.m. already?" he groaned and Allie's eyes widened at what he said, eyes darting to the alarm clock on her bedside table to see that it was, indeed, just past three, edging closer to 3:09 and she resisted the urge to gasp, stifling it in shock at the fact she hadn't bothered to even glance at the time before she called him. She wouldn't have blamed him if he had hung up on her at first, but she could not help but wonder why he had answered her so late at night if he had been sleeping instead of ignoring it? He had her number, and knew it was her, so her could have called her back later the next day – or, rather, later __that__ day. Embarrassment and shame burned in her cheeks and wanted nothing more than to bury her head in her hands but with one around her phone and holding it to her ear, it wasn't possible. "Well, what did I do to deserve a late hour call from someone such as yourself?"

After allowing herself to wallow in her self-hatred for a hot second, and hearing that he didn't seem too miffed towards her, Allie pulled herself together and managed to get her words out. __Deal with this first, then you can crawl into a hole later.__

"It's just… I've been thinking about – "

"Me?" Stark sighed, quite too happily and naturally for someone who had just been disturbed at three a.m. from their first proper sleep in days. She rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn't see her even if she did.

"Your offer," she stressed, ignoring the hotness in her face at both the dying embarrassment of realising how late she had called and also because of his words. "I've been putting a lot of thought into it since you asked me."

"You should have done since it's been over __two weeks__ since I basically gave you a job," he huffed, now sounding truly annoyed but more so at the fact that he had been made to wait for her. The thought of Tony Stark waiting by the phone for Allie to call amused her greatly and it made her glad that she hadn't caved sooner. "I'd be quite insulted if you hadn't."

"Well, I did," she confirmed once more and she heard him give an amused exhale, sounding somewhat crackled from the other side of the phone.

"And this is you calling to say 'of __course__ I'll accept, Mr. Stark! It would be such an honour and a privilege to work with someone as smart and as handsome as you!'" he squeaked, voice turning pitched and croaking, piercing Allie's ear and making her wince at the sound, pulling her phone away slightly from her ear to recover before placing it back, a scowl on her face.

"Not exactly," Allie told him, cringing at his terrible impression and screwing up her face, not quite sure if she would feel insulted or not. Her voice wasn't __that__ high, was it? "And that was a down right horrible impression of what I'm going to assume is some caricature and not me."

"First you wake me, you insult my acting?" Stark gasped, sniffing as if her words had actually hurt him. "Now I'm being tempted to hang up."

"Wait, no!" Allie exclaimed, unsure if he would actually do it or not. If he did, she wouldn't have the energy to wait for him to call back or the courage to call him again. "I just meant that I'm not calling to accept. I just wanted to know what my job would be exactly if, hypothetically, I did accept."

"And this is all just hypothetical?" he teased, and Allie knew he was smiling at her terrible fumbling for words. As proven before by her earlier conversation that day with Kyle that was backed up by years of evidence, Allie could not act for __shit__ unless she absolutely had to. "Well, truth be told, I don't know. You'd be my assistant and people would have to go through you to get into contact with me and all that. You'd turn them down, telling them that, unfortunately, Tony isn't available at the moment because he's dying or something big like that."

"But would I actually be doing anything?" she asked, none too pleased at his answer. How could he offer her a job and not know what she had to do? Better yet, how could she accept a job and not know what she had to do? It seemed all so ridiculous and idiotic – __but the money__ ¸ rang in her head and she pushed all notions of the whole ordeal being ludicrous from her head.

"There isn't that many people I've met that want to get paid to do something," he noted, clicking his tongue and she could hear a faint tapping from his end, a slow and steady rhythm as he mulled over it for a moment, gathering whatever thoughts he could before talking once more. "I mean, I could use someone with your skills since there's not another person within a hundred-mile radius that could come as close as you did in breaking my firewall."

"I wouldn't say a hundred-mile radius," she scoffed, voice shy and sweet. "Maybe two hundred?"

"I can see that you're quite the humble person," Stark chuckled, and with each word he began to fade away, as if moving from the phone. For a moment Allie was worried that she was losing connection but there were full bars and then turned to her volume but was reassured that it was just him moving about when he continued to speak. "I'll need someone to keep me 'down to earth' or whatever."

"So," Allie trailed off, relaxing her back and ignoring the ache of having sat without anything to lean on for quite some time. The clock was now crawling closer to 3:20 and she wondered how on God's green earth could she have been talking to Tony Stark for nearly fifteen minutes, at 3 a.m., without properly talking to him about what she had intended to talk about? Her brain was so addled by exhaustion that it didn't even register to her how weird it might seem to a third-party outsider. "What, you'd pay me to just sit around, declining party invitations and make you coffee?"

"I wouldn't say no to a good cup of coffee, I'll admit that," he said, jumping at her offer. She supposed making coffee for a higher pay wouldn't be too bad, but the thought of actually doing it made her recoil. After years in the service industry, specifically the coffee and other hot beverages making industry, there were somethings that just became ruined.

"It isn't all that great when you've spent nearly five years making it," she muttered, wondering if there would ever be a time when she would be able to take a breath without having the remnants of coffee grinds stuck to the inside of her nose.

"I've been drinking black coffee every morning and every hour in between since I was 14, I know what I'm talking about," Stark said nonchalantly, uncaring and making Allie's nose scrunched up on its own accord

"That's __disgusting__ ," Allie retched, shuddering at the thought of drinking black coffee and he gave a bark of laughter at her reaction.

"I bet you're one of those people who only drink herbal tea, talking about how great it is for the body but secretly despising how it tastes," he scoffed, none too bothered about the informal discussion they were having. Though the lack of unprofessionalism should have made her uncomfortable (talking to a guy who could be your potential boss at 3 a.m. and not talking about work wasn't always a good thing) but it helped her become more comfortable and free with her words, that he was just a normal person and not __the__ Tony Stark, the guy who saved the world twice.

"Herbal tea is the worst, even more so than coffee," Allie snorted, face screwing up and allowing herself to be pulled along on the sudden change in topic. She was a barista – hot drinks were her specialty. Allie could barely remember what she had learned in school, so coffee and other hot beverages became her source of knowledge in a conversation. "And there's only one right way to make tea – black tea with milk, just as God intended."

"Sounds horrifying and quite disgusting," he told her, pausing before speaking again. "I should try it sometime, give my taste buds a fright."

"Anyways," Allie started, pulling the two of them from the strange conversation. She had called him to talk about a __job__ and here they were, talking about __coffee__ and __tea__ , as well as their favourite types of all things. "Mr. Stark, if I wanted a job making coffee, I'd stick with my current one."

"How about this," he finally decided, voice still sounding quite far away as if he was on the other side of the room, butting in on her speaking and she heard more shuffling on the other side of the line, waiting for him to speak as she chewed down on her lip before he finally continued, sounding much closer than he had before. "Come down to the Avengers Compound tomorrow morning and we can discuss this whole working for me thing."

"Tomorrow? I don't know, I'm working."

"If you decide to accept, then you won't have to worry about that," Stark told her, as if waving her worries aside and sounding quite indifferent to the fact that she already had a job and actually had to __do__ said job if she wanted to keep it. But there was a truth hanging in Stark's words.

"I guess you're right, but still…" Allie trailed up, already playing out the scene of talking with Francis in her head. She hadn't taken many days off, to be quite fair, but it was true that, during the past two weeks, she hadn't been exactly working to her best standard and he had only just talked to her about it today. She could be truthful with him, tell him that she had a job interview and she knew that he would understand, but that didn't mean Allie didn't feel horrible about it. "It'd be rude to not show up. I'm on pretty thin ice as it is."

"All the more reason for you to accept!" Stark exclaimed and Allie could hear noise on the other side of the line, of shuffling and movement, heavy objects being pushed aside and the clinking of things placed on metal or some other surface. She wondered if Stark had actually been serious about her waking him up or was it just a joke he did to make her feel as if she had and, thus, make her feel bad for doing so. "The pay is great and did I mention we have a good dental plan?"

"Yes, you have."

"Wow, and that didn't make you accept?" he gasped, as if offended by her words and Allie could almost imagine him placing a hand over his heart, faux hurt on his face. She nearly laughed at the imagine in her head but reigned herself in before she could; she didn't want him to think she was a complete weirdo. That was for __after__ getting the job. __And when did you decide that you're going to accept?__ A voice in her head asked, just as surprised at the thought as she was. "Capitalism is so sad."

"Listen, I'll… I'll try and call in sick tomorrow," Allie finally relented, reaching up a hand to run through the mess that was her hair before her fingers got caught on the hair band that pulled the strands into a bun atop of her head. "If I don't show up by ten, then you'll know I couldn't get it off."

"But not that you don't accept?" he said, voice becoming higher and giddy at her words, as if he was delighted that she was finally agreeing to some form of a formal job interview; maybe he was, Allie didn't know. In the end, she would have to find out the next day – meaning that she had decided that she would go. __Damn it.__

"Good night, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed, feeling a smile tug at her lips despite her trying to stomp at the urge. He wasn't supposed to make her smile, he was supposed to make her make it easy to turn him down flat and move on and wake up at the usual time for work tomorrow to put on her barista uniform and do the same thing every day, saying the same thing with the same fake smile. Then again, maybe a benefit to a job she wouldn't actually like would be having a boss that she didn't hate; it's the main reason she didn't dread going into work every day because at least Francis and her were friends.

"Dream sweet things about me!" he teased, sounding far too chipper for her liking at three a.m. in the morning. "Remember: we have good dental!"

"Good __night__ ," she repeated once more, shaking her head and not bothering to hide the smile (he couldn't see it anyways, so why bother?) while stressing her words and, before he could even think to reply back to her, Allie pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up, the line going dead and the room silent. She sat for a few moments with her phone in her hand, staring as the screen dimmed and then locked, her dark reflection being thrown back at her with the orange light from the lamp on her bedside table casting a glow over half of a face. She half expected him to call back in order to get the last word in but her phone remained silent, unmoving in her hand.

While she might have been Atlas some minutes before, her shoulders felt free and unburdened by her decisiveness to now deal with the situation rather than hop to and fro from wondering whether she should answer him or not. Taking a breath, Allie half threw her phone to its previous position on the bedside table, falling back into the bed with her arms spread out, catching on the jumbled mess of her blankets and her pillows, eyes glued to the ceiling as the world around her moved quietly and sluggishly. Her mind felt stuck but, at that moment, Allie knew what she was going to do, knew that she could not keep up the charade of not wanting to take the leap and take a hold of what was being offered to her.

She let out a small groan, hands going to cover her face as she thought of Lisa would react tomorrow finding out that not only had Allie called to somewhat agree to being Tony Stark's assistant, but she had done it at 3 a.m. and they had even strayed away from the intended topic of conversation to talk about __tea__ of all things.

And then the worst of the situation hit her.

 _ _What in God's name was she going to tell Francis?__

* * *

 _ ** _I know, I know! I'm a day past the update day but I've been really sick the last few days and I was working more days last week. My cold has gotten really bad and, as such, a large portion of this is written while the author is half delirious and can barely see due to watery eyes (not to mention the constant coughing and sneezing.) I'll probably come back to this another time to edit but at the moment, I must leave it in the state that it is in. I wrote this chapter in such a weird way; first I wrote all the dialogue then filled in all the description and what not; I worked from top to the middle point of the story then worked from the end back to the middle._**_

 _ ** _On another note: I've been thinking about doing giveaway fics whenever we hit a milestone with this story, like when we hit 100 reviews or something like that; it's just something that's been floating in my head and I've only worked out the basis of it so far while I've been dying in bed. Whenever a milestone is hit, I allow the winner to give me anything to write about (within this fic's universe or to do with certain characters) or, if they are unsure, I give them a pick of a few that I have in my head. It's just something I've been entertaining._**_

 _ ** _And thank you all my dear readers for sticking along on this journey so far! The rest of the story is going to be just as long but the plot does pick up after this chapter. I wrote out a story outline piece to help me and im already 5k into it so there's… a lot that's going to happen. Like, yikes, if only you guys knew._**_

 _ ** _Also, I really didn't want to show it but, yes, I'm "Team Iron Man" but I really don't want to drag down the other Avengers to raise Tony up; the reason I love him so much is because of how human he is and how he makes mistakes and learns from them. But, it has been stated in canon that the Stark Relief Foundation exists and, knowing Tony, he would definitely have pumped money into helping Sokovia's recover. The other Avengers don't have the same resources as he do and they help in other places._**_

 _ ** _Anyways, after realising my author notes are WAY too long, I'll round this up with a large thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites so far!_**_

 _ ** _Thanks for reading!_**_


	6. Chapter Five

**_I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise._**

 ** _Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!_**

* * *

 ** _Chapter Five._**

Sitting in the back of the car, Allie could feel the anxiety of it all bubbling in her stomach, trying so hard not to yack up the breakfast she had. When she had called Francis and told him she was not only sick with the flu, but she was also stricken by a really bad case of cramps from her monthly menstruation, he had all but rolled his eyes and told her to stay in bed. Due to her rather good track record of rarely missing a day of work and hardly ever calling in sick, she had gotten off quite easily. Yet, now, she felt like maybe she had jinxed her good health and was close to keeling over.

Nervousness, that was one word to describe how she felt. Dread, that could be another way to describe her feelings.

Waking up had been a tedious task, trying to peel herself from the warmth of her duvet, half tempted to chicken out and not go to the Compound as advised to do and wishing that she hadn't stayed up so late. She could barely sleep after the phone call the previous night and felt half dead, sluggish and dragging her heavy body as her eyes found it harder to stay up with each passing moment. The sharp buzzing of her alarm broke through the awakening morning, screaming in a croaking voice at Allie to get up; her head began to pound, sore and aching as her hand had found the silence button and barely refraining herself from smashing it. She might have stayed there the entire morning, let herself drift off into an unsteady sleep but Allie knew she couldn't, knew that there was no point ignoring what had been annoying her for so long.

But, as she sat on the cracked leather seats, watching the tightly packed sky high buildings spread apart, becoming sparse and smaller until trees replaced them with telephone lines scratching dark lines into the clouded sky, Allie wished she had stayed in bed.

Lisa had been shocked, to say the least; unlike last time, she hadn't been reduced to fits of excited squealing, but remained silent and gobsmacked, nearly dropping her cup and having the ceramic crash and scatter on the ground. With mouth agape, Lisa let out a quiet splutter that was quickly covered up as she placed her cup down, pushing Allie to call in sick to work. Helping Allie work on her sick voice, she pretended to hold a vigil at Allie's pretend sickbed as Allie told her soon to be former manager that she was stricken with an abundance of ailments, of period cramps, a stuffed nose, a drilling headache and a scratching throat. He seemed to take her words for face value as he gently told her to take whatever time she needed; some part of Allie thought that maybe he believed she was lying but was dealing with an issue that had been distracting her for two weeks, something more serious than a job interview with Tony Stark.

Allie almost wished it were true.

It had been 8:36 when Allie hung up and Lisa began to blur at the edges from how much she was containing her excitement, a toothy grin splitting across her face; far away, in the deep recesses of her mind, Allie felt the same, felt the buzz of eagerness that was not in line with her usual sullenness that was common for her whenever something out of the ordinary happened. She had let herself indulge in it, in the thought of meeting with _the_ Tony Stark, of a real life _superhero_. Allie might have cringed at the word, once, but felt it apt to describe him because wasn't that what he and his team were? If not, what then?

 _Terrorists,_ echoed in her head, one that had lingered since reading all the articles about the amount of death and destruction that had remained after they had finished saving the world, after they continued to save the world but Allie shook it from her head. She was meeting with Tony Stark, not Iron Man, though one and the same, they were in different lines of work. As the driver drew further from the city and nearer to the Compound, Allie began to fidget in her seat, trying to quell the nervousness building in her as she tugged at her clothes.

Lisa had helped her to pick the clothes out; there was no denying how much of a mess Allie looked, from the bags beneath her eyes, to the frizz of her hair from being too lazy to brush through it properly after her shower and instead piling it on top of her head. She was dressed simply, her black jeans and brown ankle boots that she hadn't worn in eons and, hence, looked like they weren't dragged through mud and dirt every single day for the past three years. The simple white button up shirt was tucked into the waist of her jeans, sleeves rolled up to her elbows and paired with the black jacket Lisa had loaned her after the threat of downpour remained imminent. A straightener was run through her hair in order to tame it and the make up she wore was small, enough to hide the exhaustion that seemed to weigh her down but not enough to appear cakey.

Allie reached into her bag that lay beside her, taking a hold of her mirror to once more check her reflection, relieved to see that everything remained as perfect as it had been when she had left and not melted off of her face; make up had been her number one friend, as well as her archenemy through out her acne riddled and oily skin inflicted teen years.

Her leg jumped, bouncing on the dirty car floor that was littered with stones dragged in from outside and corners of wrappers stuck beneath the seat, the soft hum of the radio barely being discerned through the crackling as the taxi driver drummed her fingers on the steering wheel; Allie tentatively touched her hair, the ends rushing past down her shoulders and hoped it would last, teeth gnawing on the inside of her cheek; truth be told, she didn't know what was going to happen, or what to expect during this impromptu interview.

The fact she had come was a sure sign of what she knew was going to happen; accepting a job shouldn't be so tedious, but Allie couldn't help the worry that was always lingering. She couldn't afford to be careless, or to let herself be reckless. Part of her was wondering why he was being so insistent on her taking the job, or why he even offered it to her in the first place. He must have a million and one applicants who were of the highest quality and vying for this job, so why her? Why be so focused on one person with no experience? Maybe it was because he really did admire her ability to break through her firewall, or maybe it was what she dreaded, what made her stomach knot, guts gripping and teeth threatening to break the thin, fragile skin of her cheek. She was a legal citizen, her parents were documented and had full citizenship, there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that he could find inconsistent.

 _But what if he did?_

If he did, then she wouldn't be here, wouldn't be going to a job interview for him. It was nothing but anxiety fuelled nonsense of her mind. She was safe, nothing could turn that around.

With a huff, Allie straightened her back, shaking her head and forcing all of those thoughts from her mind. Every time she worried about things like this, it always ended up to be nothing and all she would get was a headache in between her temples. She turned her gaze outwards, eyes turned upwards to the sky and picking apart the small patches of blue that peaked out from the grey; Lisa had tried to get her to wear contacts but Allie refused, recoiling at the thought of putting anything near her eyes. Since not wanting to ruin the make up she wore, she was forced to deal with her somewhat hazy eye sight, glasses locked firmly in their case at the bottom of her bag just in case of an emergency – meaning in case she got lost and couldn't read a sign.

Beneath the car, the ground melted from the not so smooth tarmac to that of gravel, crunching beneath the weight of wheels and Allie's heart leaped in her mouth, nearly bursting from her lips before she gulped, shifting in her seat to try and take in everything.

It was big, no doubt; the place seemed to stick out like a sore thumb against the back drop of New York City, the modernity of it unlike the simple red brick stone that the majority of the high rise buildings consisted off, shifting to more grey concrete in recent years after the damages done during The Incident meant that half of the city had to be rebuilt. There was endless green curving around a simple lane for drivers to crawl slowly towards the building, her taxi driver letting out a low whistle as she slowed, taking in the sight of the Compound. It simply screamed Stark all over it; she remembered the eye sore that was the old building where the Avengers had been situated, now all but abandoned by the team and deemed a tourist attraction, and Allie snorted quietly to herself when she saw that Stark hadn't abandoned the ever famous _A_ that was plastered to the side.

To her surprise, she could see people milling about, leaving and entering the building in droves, alone or in hushed groups with no one paying much attention to the cab parked in front; Allie watched them, watched them move about and park their own cars for a day of work and looking much like the business people she would serve during the morning rush. But they didn't seem the type to work as accountants, and Allie found herself not really wanting to know what they did.

Allie remained in her seat for a moment, unsure if she wanted the driver to bring her back home or to just rip the band-aid off. Her hand rested on the handle, ignoring the sweat on her palm, a breath building itself brick by brick in her lung and ready to take that leap.

"Uh, miss?"

Allie turned to see the driver staring at her, gum popping in her mouth as she chewed, eyebrow tilted at Allie before Allie remembered she actually had to pay the woman for her service. With a slight burn in her cheeks, Allie paid the amount due, pulling on the car door handle and nearly shivering at the burst of cold air that rushed through.

"Thank you," she said, stepping out with wobbly knees and the ground grinding beneath her heels, bag slipped over her shoulder and resting against her hip before closing the door shut behind her, glad she had decided to take Lisa's offer up on taking the jacket with her, pulling it close around her as she made her way to the door. Behind her, the taxi coughed up dirt with its wheels and began pulling out, her last chance leaving at the same time.

Allie paused once more, looking at the large panes of glasses built into the side of the building, the doors constantly opening and closing as people went to enter and leave, no one casting eyes at her. Feeling like she was sticking out like a sore thumb by gaping up at the immense size of the place, Allie continued on her path, hand digging for her phone, rooting for the device that was buried at the bottom of her bag.

When she had been rudely awoken by her alarm this morning, she had grabbed a hold of her phone for her morning ritual of scrolling through social media but was shocked to see that she had a text message and from none other than Tony Stark; it was brief and short, a series of directions for when she came to the place and where he would be waiting for her. At first, Allie thought it wouldn't be that hard to find him, she could always ask someone, but now that she was here Allie felt positively indebted for Stark because from how quickly everyone was moving, and from how they were ignoring her, she felt like asking where to find Tony Stark would be impossible.

Pulling the text up, Allie paused in front of the door, turning and blindly following the instructions on her screen; she hadn't replied to him and she glanced to the time and winced when she saw that it was nearing eleven, despite her promise of being there by ten. Maybe he had thought she wasn't going to show and wasn't there? It hadn't been her fault, per say; the morning rush hour in the city was awful and Allie groaned at the thought of having to put up with it, having spent the last five years walking to work.

She was paid no heed as she continued to move about, almost making Allie frown; being the home base of the Avengers, she thought that there would be more security around to prevent any wanderers or strangers; then again, she didn't stick out as much as she thought she did as most seemed to favour black clothes without the strict rules of uniform. It felt freeing to no longer have to abide by such rules but it did come in handy whenever she spilled something and was rushed with relief at realising she hadn't ruined any of her own clothes.

Brushing her hair behind her ear, hooking it in place, Allie turned a corner as told, finding the place becoming less dense with people and crowds, barely anyone rushing about and it did little to ease the tension she felt; if she did make a wrong turn, what would she do then? She was already late as it is and Allie could feel the oncoming embarrassment of being an _hour_ late to her own job interview; maybe it would nudge him into realising that Allie was most definitely not the right person for the job.

Still, she marched on.

As she ventured further and further into the Compound, Allie soon find herself being the only living soul in the area, all the hustle and bustle of life melting away, the rush of feet and shuffling of papers gone as her footsteps grew louder and louder as everything grew sparse. Pulling her gaze away from the screen of her phone, drinking in the sights of outside, views trapped from behind the thin pane of glass that Allie had an inkling wasn't as fragile as it appeared to be. Her bag bumped on her hip in time with her steps and her hair remained caught beneath the strap, strands being tugged gently each time she turned her head a new and different way to take in her surroundings; it was all sleek and monochrome colours, the ground so polished she could see her own warped reflection being thrown back at her.

Eleven came and went in moments and Allie found herself in a dead end, three elevators greeting her at the end of a hall; frowning, she unlocked her phone but found that Stark had failed to mention whatever ground he was on. Turning back to what lay before her, she grasped her bottom lip as she was prone to do and shuffled closer to the one straight in front of her, hoping to see if there was any indication of where she should go, but found nothing but a single button to call it, replicated on the other two that lay on either side of the middle one. Stepping back, Allie contemplated on what to do, checking the text message once more to see if she had missed something but found no new piece of information; she thought maybe to open one and see if there were any further indications of what lay on each ground but found that maybe it wasn't the best idea in case there might be someone inside it by the time she called it.

The best course of action would be to text Stark, or perhaps call him for help; sighing, she pulled up the message thread and opened the small box to type, realising she still had not saved his number to her phone contacts. As she began to finish her message, she was startled.

"Ms. Lawrence."

Jumping, a hoarse gasp tore through Allie's throat, hand going to clamp over her chest to ease her heart that had began to beat wildly beneath her ribs, making it feel that it might just burst free. Allie spun around, eyes wide and sucking in a deep breath, but found no one behind or beside her, yet the voice had sounded so near. Oh God, maybe the damned place was haunted or they had a ghost on the team and she was being preyed upon by it. Or perhaps she had finally gone crazy.

"What the hell?" she squawked, blinking and doing a full circle on the spot, trying to see if there was anyone trying to hide but found nothing, making her eyebrows furrow together in confusion. But she had been so sure that the voice was right beside her…

"My name is F.R.I.D.A.Y," spoke the voice and Allie turned wildly, head tilting upwards to where the voice was strongest and her mouth nearly dropped in realising that it was coming from _above_ her. Were there cameras around her? Was there actually someone watching her right now, having already seen her fumble and feel lost? Her eyes tried to spy the cameras but found nothing gleaming, grumbling beneath her breath. "Mr. Stark is waiting for you in his workshop located in the south-west wing of the compound. You may take the opened elevator to your left."

At that moment, one of the elevators dinged, doors opening and Allie tried not to feel spooked, staring at it as if were a shark's mouth awaiting her. She kept her phone tight in her hand, in case it were a trap, but as she drew nearer, she found nothing strange about it, eyes darting about on the inside in case someone was hiding in the corners. Discovering nothing of the sort, Allie deemed it to be nothing more than a normal, ordinary elevator and straightened her spine, shaking her head and trying to believe any of this was real. She slipped her phone into the pocket of her jacket for an easier access rather than have it buried in the bottom of her bag as she took a step inside, taking notice of the bright, white walls and the fluorescent light on the ceiling, stainless steel handles on either side of the wall and the series of buttons near the door. Before she could press one, or decide on which one to press, the dulled ring around what Allie surmised was the bottom floor glowed red and the jaw of the elevator snapped shut, making her start from where she stood as she could feel the metal container drop, faster than what was normal.

There was a brief silence and Allie chewed on her words, glancing to the top corners of the elevator but found nothing.

"Uh… F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Allie asked the silence, feeling downright silly at doing so and doubting a reply.

"Yes, Ms. Lawrence?"

"You… you're not real, are you?" she questioned, though knowing the answer before an answer could begiven. She suspected that the voice was most likely not real nor did it belong to a human person, but it _sounded_ as if it did, as if there really was someone somewhere with eyes glued to a monitor and watching her every movement. It was a familiar voice, one that made her nearly hope as if it was real.

"I am an artificial intelligence unit created by Tony Stark," responded the voice, not nearly as robotic as Allie would have imagined a voice that belonged to an A.I would sound; then again, all she had to go on was movies that pegged such things as being all evil and all calculating. "Though I have many uses, my general purpose is to protect Mr. Stark and the Avengers from any security breaches and threats, and I also help to keep track and log all and any relevant information of use for Mr. Stark."

"Oh. I see," Allie hummed, tapping her foot on the ground of the elevator, dipping her head down to look at the misshapen mess of her reflection that mirrored her every movement. At F.R.I.D.A.Y's words, a strange ache bloomed in Allie's heart, one she knew had prevailed for months during her first few months of being stranded in this country. Her voice sounded small, wispy at the edges as she spoke but tried not to let it get the best of her. She could remember what if felt like to be homesick and how it hurt, how it ate away at her and made her feel as empty as one could on the inside. Allie didn't want to think of those months she had spent feeling hollow like that, didn't want to remember the dark places her mind went to. "You… you sound Irish."

"It is how Mr. Stark programmed me."

"Ah, right," was all Allie said, unsure of how to keep the conversation going. She felt rather stupid talking to thin air without anyone beside her; then again, she owed F.R.I.D.A.Y for helping her out instead of just letting Allie flounder about, unsure of what she should do since she was now over an hour late to her job interview. "That makes sense, I guess."

There was no reply from the A.I and Allie heaved a breath, fingers reaching up to smooth down any flyaway strands that escaped from being hooked behind her ear, hands acting as a comb to sort through the tiny knots that accumulated before going to tug at the waist of her jeans, pulling them up and straightening her jacket and shirt; taking the mirror that sat on the top of the mess in her bag to check her reflection once more, Allie was finally pleased to find herself presentable and tucked the mirror away, taking breaths through her mouth and through her nose to ease the bubble apprehension in her, leg jittering from its place on the ground as she ignored the feeling of the sweat on her hands.

Then, the elevator slowed, stopped and the doors opened.

The view that greeted her was not something she expected for what her job interview to look like; half thinking that maybe a mistake was made, Allie took a tentative step from the elevator, looking around the mess that surrounded her. It looked like a morgue for computers, for cars, T.V's and all things in between; broken apart pieces of what were once Allie assumed to be weapons were strewn around on the floor, on table tops and piled in boxes; little natural light filtered into the place and whatever did manage to push itself through the small windows were soon drowned out by the bright, glowing white lights that were hard to look at with the naked eye.

The place looked to be, and was genuinely, a mess and Allie was half afraid to take a step further than what she had already taken for fear of stepping or tripping over something; the room was big, bigger than what she thought a workshop could be, and the chaos seemed to grow even less as her eyes trailed further into the room, taking sight of devices and other, miscellaneous objects that seemed more put together, none the same and each more varied than the last. Far towards the end, she could see doors, each made up of a different material and breaking off from the large space it was connected to. One was a glass door, through which she could spy what she could tell was a make shift kitchen, complete with counters and islands, more fancy than what she had in her own home and the place was filled with cups and plates, making her cringe at the sight. One of the doors was plain and looked to hold nothing special, while one was made up of steel, catching on the light and winking at her, clearly hiding something away that could not be easily accessed.

Hadn't F.R.I.D.A.Y said that Stark was waiting for her down here? Yet, as she continued her sweep of the place, she saw nothing of the man and began to doubt what the A.I had told her, wondering that maybe he had left without anyone noticing after thinking that Allie was not going to show up.

Allie trailed further into the workshop, watching her step and tip toeing through the mess, trying to catch sight of any movement that might give Stark away but saw nothing; then, her ears strained as she caught the soft voice of something, singing along to a melody she didn't know. Treading in the more cleaned up area of the place, Allie no longer had to watch her step as she craned her head around a small corner, finding it leading off into a different place that appeared to be where Stark worked the most. As she drew closer, she could hear the clanging of metal, the soft tinkering and screeching of nuts and bolts being tightened and her eyes flickered, before catching sight of a pair of legs stuck beneath a make of some old car Allie didn't bother trying to know.

Allie lingered for a moment, unsure of what to do as she shuffled on her feet, listening to the clanging and soft humming from beneath the car, chewing on her lip before she straightened her spine, readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder; part of Allie thought to turn on her heel and leave but she was already there, so why not rip the bandage off? Allie gave a small, meek cough that went unnoticed to clear her throat before she spoke.

"Hello? Mr. Stark?" Allie called out and the humming stop, all tinkering ceasing as she watched Stark pull himself out from under the belly of the car, hair wild and unstyled with a smudge of what Allie assumed to be oil streaking across his cheek. His eyes flitted about before landing on her, eyebrow cocked at the sight of the younger woman, making her feel even more self-conscious and trying not to tug at her clothes.

"Ah, great! You're here!" Stark exclaimed, a boyish grin lighting up on his face as he pushed himself further away from beneath the car, dropping whatever tools that were in his hand beside him as he stood, looking rather worse for wear; it was then Allie really believed that he had been going nights without a proper sleep because he definitely looked like shit. His hair, which she had always seen to be perfectly styled, lay loose around him and Allie could see the ends curling, catching on his ears and his temple. He wore no suits, no perfect shirt, and there was a rag thrown over his shoulder, looking worse for wear; standing, Stark wiped his hands on his trousers, staining them even further and looking as if they were ready to be torn at any touch or movement. Allie couldn't help but feel as if she was the one overdressed for the interview and began feeling insecure at how much effort she had put into her appearance, not wanting to show up looking like a drowned rat as she had the last time they met. Stark paused in front of her, bringing his wrist up to glance at the watch that was strapped there, letting out a low whistle. "And you're only… an hour late."

Her ears felt warm and her cheeks pinked, though she hoped the makeup would show her not to be as red as her face would tend to be when blushing, blotches of red splattered across her nose and cheeks. A sheepish grin found its way on her lips as a breathy laugh left her. "Sorry, there was traffic."

"It's fine," Stark scoffed, waving her words off and walking past her, hand outstretched to let her lead the way back into the workshop, careful not to touch her for fear of staining her clothes. "It wasn't like I was waiting for you or anything."

"Really?" Allie asked, walking into the room once more, careful not to trip on anything and her eyebrow raised at Stark, watching him take the cloth resting on his shoulder to wipe his hands on, though Allie was pretty sure they just made the mess worse more than anything. "Because your A.I – I mean, F.R.I.D.A.Y told me you've been waiting for me."

"I… see," Stark blinked, pausing his actions at her words before he cast a not so subtle glare towards the ceiling, amusing Allie at the fact he was genuinely looking annoyed at the fact his A.I had sold him out. The glare came and went, lasting all of two seconds before Stark turned his gaze back to her, that boyish grin finding itself once more. Allie paused in her steps, unsure of where he was bringing her, or where she was supposed to lead him and Stark stopped too, leaning back slightly to take a chair tucked into a desk and spinning it free, placing himself down on it as he clapped his hands together. "Well, since you've already introduced yourself there's no point for me to do it. I think it's best we get straight to business, so please, take a seat."

He indicated to behind Allie, making her turn to see another free chair stuck under a desk and she rolled it free, briefly glancing over it to make sure there were no stains or messes on it that might ruin or clothes or seep into her jeans; she was beginning to feel glad that she had chosen black to be her choice of colour for the day. Sitting down, Allie slung the bag off of her shoulder, the strap resting on the back of the chair as she turned back once more to face Stark, the rather unprofessional setting for the interview not bothering her as much as it should have.

"That'd be great," Allie huffed, ignoring how the chair squeaked with every movement she made and how the cushions seemed lumpy against her back and beneath her thighs. To her utter embarrassment, the balls of her feet just about managed to grace the ground if she sat fully back into the chair, making Allie shift forward and linking her hands in front of her. "I don't want to drag this out."

A stifled gasp left Stark's parted mouth, hand clapping over his chest at her words, a look of shock and hurt on his face as she settled into the seat, staring deadpan at the man as he slumped in his position, going so far as to give a sniff. And she thought Lisa was prone to dramatics – this was an entirely new level for her. It was entertaining to watch, nonetheless; at least he actually wasn't taking her words to heart, even if she hadn't meant for them to be taken in a serious way. "Ouch, that isn't insulting at all."

"I didn't mean it like _that,_ " Allie insisted refraining from rolling her eyes as her jittery leg threatened to start its bouncing once more. She edged further upwards on her chair to cross her ankles, the chair swishing back and forth slightly at her movement before slowing. Stark clicked his tongue, letting his hand fall from his chest but there was still a curve on his mouth, brown eyes gleaming as Allie attempted to create at least a semblance of professionalism. So far, she had managed to insult her new potential more times than she could count on her hand, and that wasn't really what one should be aiming for when seeking out a new job. Just because Francis managed to put up with her, that didn't mean she knew Stark was going to do the same. "It' _s_ just, I've been thinking about this a lot over the past two weeks. And I want to just… put it to rest."

"Well, alright," Stark sighed, straightening himself and appearing more like the man who had found himself in her apartment all those weeks ago, albeit without the suits and clean face and not reeking of oil and a tinge of rust. Taking a hold of the edge of his seat, Stark rolled himself closer to her, so close that Allie could see that there was another smear of grease just arching above his left eyebrow, reaching up to disappear beneath his fallen fringe. The smell of rust grew and it nearly made Allie scrunch her nose up; beneath, there was a small trace of cologne lingering. Stark leant closer, an arm on his elbow and that grin gone from his face. "Here it is. You come work for me as my assistant. Get paid, generously I might add – and maybe I show you how to not be so… sloppy with your work."

Without her knowing, an offended gasp left Allie's lips, no longer bothering to keep her face neutral as her features twisted up; Stark seemed none too bothered by her reaction and Allie gave an affronted splutter, making it her time to feel inclined to indulge in being over the top. Stark didn't look too troubled at the fact he had insulted Allie, though she supposed she had slighted him enough times, however lightly, for him to do the same to her. A pout was threatening to form on her mouth as Allie frowned, deep rooted and setting creases in her skin.

"Sloppy? My work is _sloppy_?" Allie repeated in disbelief and the brief nod from Stark made Allie not even bother trying to hide the pout on her face, voice taking a whining tone as her arms found themselves wrapping over her chest, slumping back into her chair which sent her feet further from the ground. "You said I wasn't sloppy before! You said I was great!"

"I was trying to be nice, it was our first time meeting," Stark explained, slacking his spine and mimicking Allie's position in her seat, leaning back and throwing an arm over the back of his chair, the faint creases of laugh lines appearing along his eyes. He was getting a kick out of her reaction and it caused Allie to slum even further, seeming more and more like an upset child than acting like the adult woman she was. She glared at the fact his feet were able to touch the ground perfectly, stretched out in front of him and crossed. "Can't really be rude like that in someone else's home."

"If I remember correctly, you all but threatened me with jail time," Allie scoffed, not quite remembering their first meeting with any sort of fondness. All Allie did remember from their first encounter was her looking like a drowned rat, him doing exactly as she said and her trying to scream at herself that she had a brain and that it would be best if she started using it at any minute, along with using words with her mouth. She wasn't as so much star-struck as she was dumbfounded and reeling from the fact she had been caught out; it seemed that Stark was remembering his own words too and he pulled a face at the thought. "And I _wasn't_ sloppy. Maybe the first time, yeah, but that's only because I wasn't sober."

A groan left him, elbow going to rest on a small, empty space on the table beside him as his hand partially covered his face, fingers resting over his eyes as he shook his head at her words, loose curls of his hair following the motion as he did so. "I honestly still cannot believe that you actually did that. Just cause me an aneurism by saying that."

"If I can get crack a firewall that _you_ made, while _drunk_ ," Allie smirked, rather pleased with herself despite the fact that, up until two weeks ago, the fact she had done exactly that made her want nothing more than to find the deepest hole in the entire world and crawl inside of it, waiting for death to claim her. Now, she didn't feel like that so much anymore; Stark didn't seem so upset at the fact she had actually broken through his security more than the fact she had done it while completely inebriated. There was something like childish glee rearing its head in Allie as she, for the first time in a long time, took pride in her actions, in her ability to outmatch Stark. "Then I don't think I'm that bad."

Stark pulled his hand away from his eyes, looking at her through the cracks of his fingers before resting his cheek against his knuckles. The curtain of his fringe had fallen slightly, giving Allie the view of his forehead and she could not help but take notice of how the messy mop of curls, loose and untamed, made him look younger, less like a businessman. He gave a breathy laugh, the sound rushing past his lips as he shook his head once more, dismissing her words with a wave of his other hand. "Oh, no, not bad, I didn't say that. Just sloppy."

Allie scowled at the other man, nearly reverting once more back into her indignant self but refraining from doing. "I regret coming here."

"Don't be dramatic," Stark scoffed, smirking but without any harshness, more so looking as if he was being _entertained_ by Allie and her reactions. He shifted in his chair once more, uncrossing his ankles to place either foot on the ground, moving his seat back and forth gently as his hands rested on his stomach, linked and back slouched. "It's called tough support."

"It's tough love, actually," Allie corrected, scrunching her nose, crinkles appearing at the corners of her nostrils and that boyish smile was on his face once more, laugh lines digging into along the curve of his eyes, along his cheek bones.

"See?" he laughed, as if he was pleased by her correction of him, hands unwinding from one another to hover towards her, arms outstretched and greased palms upwards. "I need someone to correct my idioms. I'm pretty sure I said 'walk a mile in someone else's socks' the other day and _no one_ bothered to correct me. Imagine if I said that on live television."

Allie tiled her head, trying to rack her head for a small sliver of an article she had read so long ago on some trashy tabloids website. "I'm pretty sure you have at some time. How can you mess up something so simple?"

At her words, his eyebrows rose up further on his forehead, mouth opening once, twice and then a third time. "And you would know because…?"

"I'm not accepting this without a little knowledge beforehand," Allie replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"And by knowledge, you mean…?" Stark said, tone that same, slightly higher pitch while trailing off to prod her further on to further explain and continue. She was straight-faced, unsmiling.

" _You_ , Mr. Stark."

"And by that, you mean…?"

This time Allie did not bother to stop herself from rolling her eyes, nor did she bother to quash smile on her face at his actions. Then her face pulled itself together, remember the amount of articles she had read that had been numerous about his behaviour in the past, many of which contained photos she most definitely did _not_ want to see of her protentional boss because they were going to be forever burned into her brain whether she liked it or not – most likely the former rather than the latter. A shudder ran itself down her spine as she recalled some of the images her eyes had been forced to witness. "By that I mean that I think I've read just about enough articles about you being drunk and disorderly from the early 2000's to last me a life time."

"That was over ten years ago," Stark defended, pushing aside her words but Allie still had a hard time of removing the images and blocky, patchy videos that had been uploaded that were at the front of her mind. "I haven't stripped naked while drunk since 2005."

"2007, actually," Allie spluttered out before she could catch the words, making Stark look at her in surprise, that familiar pink frosting her cheeks as she dipped her head slightly. "You were at a Halloween party. It was… an eyeful."

 _That's putting it lightly_ ; Allie really did _not_ need to have those images at the forefront of her mind while she was actually speaking with Stark. Though, he didn't seem to be all too put out by the fact Allie had researched his not most finer days, appearing as if he was pleased at the fact she had seen what she could assume was the worst of him and had not turned tail and ran. It would take more than public nudity to make Allie turn on her heel and walk away from something; she had been through a lot worse.

"Lovely," he commented, not sounding as sarcastic as she thought he would. He was eyeing her, something in his stare that Allie pegged as to be some sort of respect – maybe at the fact she had seen him do all kinds of things and was still here, still applying for a job that could probably make her have her work cut out for her. While it did make Allie hesitate, that same old voice in the back of her head kept whispering about _money, money, money_ and it was becoming harder to ignore. Not that Stark needed to know she was only in this for the money; let him assume whatever he wanted for all she cared. "I need someone with a stomach like yours if you're going to work for me."

"Which is still undecided," Allie stressed and he showed up his hands in compliance, nodding in agreement.

" _Which is still undecided_ , yes," he repeated, slowly and sweetly with a gleam in his eyes as he spoke. Allie gave a huff, sinking lower into her seat so that the balls of her feet were resting against the ground, mimicking his movement of swishing her chair back and forth, ignoring the squeaks and creaks of it beneath her, the curtain of her hair threatening to slip from where it was hooked behind her ear. "But, really what's not to like?"

At that, Allie paused in her swishing of the chair, eyes flicking up to meet Stark's own, eyebrows darting up her forehead as she could not help herself from pulling a face at his words. Allie pulled herself up straighter, hands on either armrest beside her before she swept the falling strands of hair behind her ear and clapped her hands together, lacing the fingers and placing them in her hands.

"Well, there's still the fact you haven't told me what I'm going to do, what my daily tasks are, where I'm even going to work, how this is even going to work or what my job is other than assistant because that's _very_ broad. Do I answer phone calls? Schedule appointments? Just sit around while looking pretty?"

Stark opened his mouth, lips parted before a thoughtful look flitted over his features, gazing off as if he was distracted by something, voice almost a murmur.

"Well, that last one – "

" _Mr. Stark,_ " Allie deadpanned and Stark laughed, displaying his grease riddled palms in a movement of preventing Allie making an outburst.

"Kidding, kidding," Stark joked and there was that twinkle in his eyes again, gleaming at her and she was less than amused, as that thoughtful look found itself on his face once more, though less so to tease her. A huff left him and his fingers were placed over his mouth, curving down over his chin as he clicked his tongue, reaching the other hand up to scratch at his jaw, the usually impeccably styled beard that was shadowed there not as in shape as Allie had seen it weeks ago. "Alright, well… I _do_ need someone to keep atop of my calls and paperwork – especially the latter. I'm pretty sure I've just been shoving them into cupboards and I can't remember where I've been putting them. I've generally been using F.R.I.D.A.Y as my secretary but people don't really take kindly to talking to an A.I."

Allie mulled over his words, relaxing her position as she eyed Stark from the corner of her eye, as if waiting for him to spring something undesirable about the job on her; maybe the reason no one else had this job was because it was undesirable in itself. Though, as Stark spoke, Allie couldn't actually find anything _wrong_ about it; she drank in his appearance once more, the oil stained clothes, his floppy, curling hair and the growing beard shadowing on his jaw, and how it seemed to scream the theory of him being a recluse at her. Hadn't Kyle said that Stark was avoiding the public eye? What could be the worst that could happen? Having people yell at her through the phone was the same as it was in the customer service industry and she had fought through years of that already, hardened to words and no longer prone to burst into tears if someone yelled at her.

Truth be told, the job was sounding more and more tempting by the second and it made her wonder why on earth the position wasn't filled; maybe, years ago, when Stark had been a handful in the eyes of the public, she would have turned it down flat. But he was older now, seemingly less inclined to indulge in public displays of nudity and from what he described it seemed that her job was almost too easy. Boring, maybe, but easy. _Too_ easy.

"So…" Allie began after contemplating, eyes narrowed and teeth running over her teeth, processing Stark's words carefully. "Instead of having people yell at your A.I… you want people to yell at me?"

"Precisely!" Stark beamed with a nod of his head, Allie's eyes being unable to tear themselves away from the way the curls on his head moved along with the inclination, curving around his ears, down his neck. He didn't appear as uptight or frighteningly business-like as he did when he had been in her apartment, in her home. She actually felt comfortable around him, felt comfortable talking to him – mainly due to the fact he wasn't threatening her with jail time. "Except, no. We'll wire any incoming calls that F.R.I would usually respond to, to your phone instead. You'll deal with any and all kind of people. If there's something concerning the Avengers or anything of the sort – and you'll know when it is – then you may discuss with me. Anything other than that, it's a complete no go. You'll be kept busy all day, if that's what you're looking for."

Stark finished his explanation, a pause forming between them as the two waited for Allie to say her piece, to possibly decline, accept or remain indecisive. Her teeth chewed on the inside of her cheek, brow knotting and furrowing as she pondered on his words, giving a small hum as he stared, seeming impatient for Allie to find her voice and say something, anything. Then again, he had been waiting for two weeks for her to call and she had torturously dragged it out for him and yet, she still was not satisfied.

"That's it?" she asked, and once more he nodded, serious.

"That's it," Stark confirmed.

"And…" Allie trailed off, thumbs finding each other and moving around each other, twiddling as her feet moved the chair back and forth slightly, as if making her appear shy. "What's this about "teaching" me some things?"

"I know I said you were sloppy with your work – "

"And you were wrong."

"And I _wasn't_ wrong," he insisted but it wasn't done spitefully, nor did it sound too mean. Tough support, as Stark had wrongly put it. Allie scowled at his words and Stark gave a shrug, as if to say _what can you do_? The words _not insult me_ nearly spilled past her lips but then she was reminded by the fact that she had done just that to Stark enough times, playful banter or not. "You're good, but if you were _really_ good, F.R.I.D.A.Y wouldn't have been able to catch your scent twice."

"Wait…" Allie spluttered, wide-eyed as she stared at him, mouth agape with shock. "You _knew_ that I did it the first time?"

"I knew there was a breach," he said nonchalantly as if it didn't even mean much to him. Hadn't he told her that he had believed it to be a miscalculation, an error in the system? If Allie had had any inkling that Stark was already onto her scent, she would never, ever had done as Lisa asked. How on Earth did he know that she had broken through, why not trace her the first time? "But you were gone before your location could be pinned down. We managed this time because you used the same accessory. Not really a smart idea, that."

Well. That made sense.

"Oh. Right."

"I got your phone number and managed to get all I could from that," Stark further explained, as if they were discussing something as trivial as the weather. Sometimes, it bothered her how indifferent he sounded, as if there was much in life that did not bother him, did not stir a reaction from him; there was a sigh lingering beneath his words and his hand cupped his jaw, fingers tapping against his cheek. "You used it as a crutch and it's best to learn how to walk on your own two feet."

"So, you're saying I'm not only sloppy, but I'm also crippled?" Allie hissed, affronted by his words and once more, Stark gave a lift of his shoulders but she could see the curve on his lips, smiling at her being offended by what he had said.

"You're the one who said it, not me," he replied, voice almost a sing-song before it once more took on a serious tone, matching the situation and making it less like a quick chat between two acquaintances and more like a job interview. Allie was losing track of how many times they had diverted off track, trailed away from the true reason of their conversation; she didn't know what was worse: the fact it kept happening, or the fact it was far too easy to branch off from what they were intending to talk about. "There's not many people who are as good as me. I mean, you're still nowhere near my level, but you could be. One day. In the very far future."

"Are you always such a brag, or is it only just with me?" she scoffed at him.

"Only you, dear," Stark winked at Allie, a sigh hanging on the end of the last word. She might have bristled had it been like their first meeting, but it only elicited a roll of the eyes from Allie, a small warmth creeping up from beneath the collar of her shirt. It was like the banter that would be tossed back and forth between her and Francis, one waiting for the other to break first and cringe from overly doing it in a game of trying to out woo; she had always been one to never take such joking too seriously. "So, I guess you'd become assistant and my protégé? It's quite a win-win situation."

Confusion etched itself into Allie's eyes, nose scrunched up as she gave a small shake of the head, strands of her hair swishing at the movement and tickling her neck, her jaw. "I… I don't see how it is."

"Well, one win because you get a job doing something than pouring coffee – "

"It's not just coffee, you know," Allie interjected without thought. "There are other drinks that exist beside coffee."

"Not for me there isn't; coffee is the mistress of my heart," Stark sighed longingly, as if the words were about a women and not a drink, his heart pining for an actual living being and not a drink. "And the second win is that you don't get to go for jail for breaking into high security."

"But I didn't mean to!" she spluttered, and he gave a sweet smile, chuckling at her frustrated reaction.

"I'm sure the judge won't agree."

"So, my only options are work for you or jail?" Allie spat, rather upset at the ultimatum that seemed rather too unfair for her liking. Stark paused for a moment, once more mulling over her words as he pulled the corners of his lips down, head moving back on forth as though weighing the two options that lay before Allie against each other before nodding, satisfied with whatever conclusion he had come up with, turning back to her.

"Basically, yeah."

They stared at one another, Allie glaring and Stark smiling as she pursed her lips, becoming more and more frustrated by the man in front of her. Every time he seemed almost to be likeable, he pulled the rug from under her and started laughing at her when her face met the ground. A huff pushed itself through her lips, a small raspberry sounding before she reached behind her to take the strap of her bag, going to strand. "Alright, see you in court."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Stark cried, rolling his chair closer and hands planting on either side of her armrests to keep her from leaving; trapped, Allie fell back into the chair, glowering at Stark but not with as much bitterness or venom as she intended to be projected into the stare. Pleased that she had elected to stay, Stark pulled his hands back and held up a finger, as if asking for a moment more of her time. "I have one more thing that'll change your mind."

"I swear to God, Mr. Stark, if you talk about the dental one more time – " Allie groaned, watching Stark roll away from her, his knees briefly knocked gently against hers before he reached the desk, hands sorting through the mess that lay on the table top, the chaos being something only he could understand. Stark chortled, cutting Allie off as he continued to search for… well, whatever he was searching for. Allie could barely name anything that lay on top of the table.

"Oh, no, that was a lie. We don't even have dental, here. This is something else."

His words made her eyes narrow towards him, trying to make sense of his movements but coming up with nothing; Stark gave a small sound of delight, glee at having found what he was searching for – a small pad of sticky notes, the size greatly reduced from how many had been peeled off. Allie cocked her eyebrow at him, still unsure at what he was doing before she watched him roll further away to the wall opposite them, wheels of the chair scraping against the ground; Stark flicked through the small working shelve that was nailed to the wall at a low enough height that he did not have to stand up to see what was on it, though Allie suspected he could sort through the mess as he knew it like the back of her hand. Finally, a pen was produced and Stark ripped the cap off with his mouth, balancing it between his teeth as he scribbled on the small square of paper; Allie, exasperated, was unable to take any more and finally broke.

"What? What are you doing?" she asked but a series of hushes quickly and effectively cut her off, the cap of the pen being taken from his mouth and placed it between his fingers, twiddling it as he continued to write on the sticky note square, a smirk on his lips.

"Shh, shh. Don't disturb me when I'm focusing," he said, turning his eyes from the sticky note and beaming at Allie, reaching behind to throw the cap back on the work shelf, not caring to look back and see where it landed before tucking the pen behind his ear. Stark held the pad close his chest, away from Allie's prying eyes as he began to scoot back towards Allie, that shit eating grin on his face growing larger and larger, as he waggled a finger at Allie as if to reprimand her, making Allie more distrustful by the passing second. "That kind of work ethic is unprofessional."

She bit down on her tongue, preventing it from saying what she really wanted to say before she forced a fake smile onto her lips, one that had been there for years and was usually accompanied by _Hi! How can I help you today?_ In a fake, sickly sweet voice; Allie once more adopted her customer service voice, speaking through her teeth. "What are you doing, _sir_?"

"Nice touch," he complimented before thrusting the pad out towards her, toothy smile as wide as it could get as an excitement took over him, knee beginning to bounce as Stark sat once more in front of her. "And I'm showing you your wage."

"Showing me? Can't you just, you know, _tell_ me with your mouth, with words, like a normal person would?" She said in disbelief, not yet reaching out to take the pad in her hands, not quite trusting his words and Stark rolled his eyes at her, making Allie think that if either of them did that in response to the other anymore, they would have to start paying pennies from the amount of times they were reduced to doing so.

"I could but that's not nearly as dramatic. Haven't you ever watched a movie?"

"No. I was raised in a secluded household where we were only allowed to read the bible every single day."

"That explains your lack of humour," He muttered and Allie gave an indignant cry of defence but he ignored her, thrusting the pad out towards her once more, impatient for her to take it. "Anyway, here you go."

"Listen, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed, finally taking a hold of it in her hand, shaking her head and eyes cast down. "I really don't think money is what's going to – "

Allie eyes found the numbers on the small, luminous orange page and a choking sound left her, words caught in her throat and voice unable to force itself through her closed throat, her free hand reaching up to place itself over her lips, clapping over her mouth to prevent another squeak leaving her. She couldn't blink, breath, believe what was in front of her, the numbers that seemed to be the most she had ever seen in her life, the highest number possible she could think off. Her core was rattled, shook and even the little green goblin in the back of her mind that always seem to chant _money, money, money_ seemed stunned, dazed by how many zeroes there were and ready to collapse as Allie was.

He couldn't be serious, he _really_ and _truly_ could _not_ be actually thinking in paying _this_ amount of money for her to come work for him as his assistant. Her mind could scarcely believe what was in front of her in writing, shaken by the figure. No, this had to be a joke; no one in the right might would even think about paying this amount for an _assistant_ – and an untrained, inexperienced one at that. Stark's eyes were gleaming, catching on the light at her stunned reaction and she barely took note of how he moved his chair to place it side by side with hers, looking at what he had written too, not bothering to quash the teasing smile on his lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest, mind reeling and thoughts sorting themselves into incomprehensible constellations that no man hath fathomed.

"You were saying?" his voice was light, mischievous as he spoke, all too delighted by her silence, her shock at what he said. Allie swallowed roughly, an audible gulp as her hands moved away from her lips, eyes watering from how long she had not bothered to blink. Her mouth parted, a shaky breath tearing itself through her, sharp and cutting as she forced her gaze to meet Stark's, wavering and waiting for him to laugh at her, to mock her and say it was just a joke.

"Are you… is this for real?" Allie whispered, gentle and unable to go any louder. This had to be a joke, it just _had_ to be from the way he was looking at her. The paper was held tightly in her grip, firmly grasped as afraid it might turn to dust as she brought it in closer, not wanting any sort of breeze to rib it from her. "I make this, in a year?"

"Yes, that's – oh, wait," Stark began, flicking his eyes towards the paper before cutting himself out, looking displeased with the numbers and he reached out, taking it from Allie's hand, the young woman not bothering to put up a fight from how shell shocked she was, grip slackening as Stark took the pen from behind his ear and, to Allie's complete and utter surprise, added another number alongside the already long sequence, giving her a friendly and soft smile and holding it back out for her to take a hold of again. "I missed a digit. There you go."

"Oh my god," Allie croaked, hands shaking as she took it in her hand once more, trying to make sense of the situation. This had to be some sort of cruel joke he was playing with her, it just had to be. Her palms were slick with sweat, eyes blinking fast to dispel the mistiness in them, heart thudding and pounding far too loudly in her chest for her liking. Allie's free hand found its way on her forehead, elbow resting on the arm of the chair, bumping against Stark's. "I'm going to have a heart attack."

"Try not to die," Stark comforted, giving Allie a consoling pat on the shoulder twice, as if he was already mourning her death. "The janitor doesn't come down here to clean and I don't want to drag you upstairs."

"You're… you're being serious? Like, seriously?" Allie burst out, pulling her forehead away from her hand and ready to grip Stark by the neck of the shirt, wanting to shake him to see if any sort of common sense would fall loose. She leaned in close, trying to find any hint that he was only joking but sound nothing.

"Being seriously serious?" He repeated, blinking at the strange use of words with a small chuckle. "Yes, I am. That's how badly in need of an assistant I am."

Stark reached over, tapping the page with his index finger and leaving a smudge on the orange page, streaking across the middle number, hoping to drive his point home. She hadn't known he was _this_ desperate; he was willing to pay this amount for her to work for him, why not pay someone the same who would actually be competent at their work? Her mind still couldn't wrap itself around the entire situation and Allie slumped in her chair, moving away from being so close to Stark to drag in a deep breath into her chest, trying to find some breathing space to think.

"I… I need a moment."

"Of course. You want a glass of water?"

"No, thanks – "

"Too late," he interjected, already moving to stand up before she could finish, giving a wave over his shoulder as he did so. "I'm already up."

Allie's eyes stuck to Stark as she watched him go before she peeled her gaze away, looking to the small sticky note and still stunned to see that it was still there, that it was written in ink paper, stone evidence of a promise of money and more – being independent, of being able to actually support herself alone. The sound of his footsteps grew weaker and weaker, echoing on the walls of the workshop and in Allie's mind. Part of her was unable to believe Stark was a sane man – no one could be if they were willing to give another person so much money to work for them in a job that they had no area of experience in. Had it been Lisa that was being offered the job, a person who had actually worked as an assistant and knew what to do, it would have made more sense – but it wasn't Lisa, it was Allie; Allie who had spent most of her life pouring drinks and serving dishes, Allie who could barely organise her own life as it was, Allie who was probably just as much of a mess as Stark was, perhaps even more.

Despite the fact Allie was nearly one hundred percent sure that Stark was completely _insane_ , she knew that she would be even more insane to not accept. With this amount of money, she could do anything, go anywhere; her plan of only working for him for a year was becoming more and more plausible, more realistic. Allie chewed on her bottom lip, ignoring the pain behind her eyes from not wearing her glasses for such a long period of time as she began to finally come to, the sounds of Stark's footsteps like the flicking of a switch, putting an end to her indecisiveness. Her eyes glanced up, tearing away from the studying of his scribbling to see him clutching a glass in one hand, water sloshing about slightly as he placed it down beside her with a clink, taking his seat once more beside her

"Here you go."

"Thank you," Allie choked out, taking it in her hand and ignoring the feeling of a thin film of grease sticking to the pads of her fingers, chugging down the drink to soothe her parched throat, Stark watching her with some level of amazement as she finished the drink as soon as she had picked it up, placing it back down beside her with a loud thud, not feeling all too embarrassed by her behaviour as Stark gave a whistle of admiration before speaking.

"So, since you've done having a seizure," he spoke, teasing Allie but she didn't find herself minding that much. She was pretty sure he could tell her to scrub the floors and she would gladly do so for this amount of money. "What do you say Ms. 'I'm not controlled by money even though this is a capitalist society'?"

"I didn't say I wasn't controlled by money," Allie insisted, ignoring the little goblin in the back of her mind that snorted as if disagreeing with her words. Hadn't the reason she came here been money? Wasn't the reason she was going to accept because of money? "Just that, it'll take more than money to make me accept."

"What about my charming personality?" Stark joked, that boyish smile curving on his lips and Allie gave him a sweet one in return, patting his arm as he had done to her earlier, giving him a brief, reassuring two pats on the arm before throwing him a playful smile.

"As soon as you find it, sure."

"Okay, _ow,_ " he sniffed, pretending to wipe away a faux tear at the corner of his eye. "That hurt my pride."

"Surprised you still have that, too," she replied, the memory of all those editorials and exposés swimming to the forefront of her mind, nearly making her scrunch her nose up at all those images that were going to be forever burned into her mind. "I've read enough articles that should have bruised that by now."

"Being one out of the two most amazing and brilliant people in the world helps a lot," Stark sighed dreamily, giving a light of his shoulders as she tossed him a confused look.

"'One out of the two'? Well, who's the other?"

"Why," Stark beamed, showing off his perfectly straight and white teeth. "None other than you of course!"

"Then sorry to break it to you, but that make us both the most unamazing and lame people in the world."

"Self-deprecating humour, I like it. Tear yourself down to take me down, an old classic," he grinned, nodding along to his words but Allie scarcely heard them, staring at Stark with such star-struck eyes, as if she was finally seeing him as he was: a hero. Not because he had saved the world, oh no, but because he had saved her from being a poor barista for the rest of her life. He angled himself towards her, turning his chair and awaiting her answer. "So, Ms. Lawrence – now that we've had quite the productive conversation, I believe I am in need of an answer? Or do I need to add more zeroes to that?"

"No! No, you don't, I'm…" Allie exclaimed, standing so suddenly that the chair hit the back of knees, the impact sending it skirting back behind her until it bumped into the lip of the desk gently; Allie's eyes were wide, wild and her hands hovered over her chest, gripping onto the sticky note so ferociously that she thought it might break beneath her fist. Stark blinked at her sudden movement, leaning back into his chair as Allie tried to find the words, the right ones, to say to him, tongue rushing over her lips before she gave her head a nod, hair shaking around her at her doing so. "I accept, Mr. Stark. I'll come work as your assistant."

"Great!" Stark said, nearly giving a laugh as a smile found its way onto his lips, hands clapping together and palms rushing up and down before turning away from her and into the desk, beginning to shove away the junk that lay in scattered pieces around him in order to sort through the nonsensical chaos strewn around. "Your first job is to make me some coffee; it's nearly 12 and I haven't had any this morning."

"I regret this already," Allie muttered to herself, narrowing her eyes at him, tiny pinpricks as she felt whatever ecstatic feeling that had flooding through her moments before drip away, leaving her unamused and unimpressed by Stark and his words. _Ass._ She kept her voice low in hoping that he wouldn't hear as she turned to do exactly as he had asked her to do.

"What was that?" he snapped though without much bite, spinning in his chair and giving her a mock glare, making Allie pause in her steps and straighten her spine, forcing a sweet grin on her face, fist clenching around the small paper in her, the small promise of bigger things for the future.

"Nothing, Mr. Stark. Your coffee's coming, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed but there was a genuine smile on her lips, a whisper in her head telling her she could do this.

It was only for a year, and what was a year for the rest of her life?

It wasn't like anything could happen in such a small space of time.

 _Right?_

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

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 ** _pinkeye: Thank you! I'm so glad that you enjoyed my last chapter and have enjoyed my story so far! I love receiving so much positive feedback from my readers!_**

 ** _AgainstTheMotion: thank you so much for dropping a review! really, it means so much to me to know that you're enjoying and loving this story as it continues on! i hope that I continue to impress with my future chapters! As for where this story is going... well, it's going to cause a lot of tears, a lot of broken hearts and a lot of shock!  
_**

 ** _PrincessMagic: thank you! I feel much better compared to last week and i'm so glad that my flu went away because if im going to be honest, I don't remember what i wrote last chapter and i'm so bad at editing and reviewing a chapter, so Yikes. Thank you for always reviewing and giving me support!_**

 ** _eden: i honestly couldn't stop smiling when i woke up to your review! It made my whole day! I tried to make Allie a separate entity from myself but I just realised... how i'm projecting a lot of myself onto her haha. Mostly because we're both irish and we're both very small (my fellow under 5'1"peeps where you at). I loved writing from Tony's P.O.V and I will continue to do so, but I didn't want to constantly shift between the two because: a) in the end, it's a story about Allie, b) i wanted to leave a few surprises for when we do check back in with Tony and c) because Tony is a canon character, there are many interpretations of him and I didn't want to force my interpretation on my readers, but I'm glad to know that I've managed to do him justice! Tony is my all time favourite character and has been since i was 8 and saw the first Iron Man movie. As for their relationship... well, as Allie said, it isn't like anything can happen in such a small space of time. But, really, I wanted to give Tony a friend he can rely on and I wanted to give Allie someone she can finally trust besides Lisa, and who knows where that road might lead them? ([me at me] PLEASE STOP GIVING EVERYTHING AWAY)_**

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 ** _Anyways, thank you all for reviewing this (unedited and unreviewed sorry) and I look forward to writing future chapters as I hope you look forward to reading them._**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	7. Chapter Six

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

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 ** _Chapter Six._**

June.

That was the month Allie set for herself, the month that would be her designated deadline for working with Stark.

It currently comprised of being little over eleven months, of being forty-seven weeks and 334 days away. When she broke it down, really broke it down, it didn't seem so far away, didn't seem to out of reach. Allie thought she could do it, _knew_ she could handle less than a year with Stark. She handled working seven years in the customer service industry, she handled five of those years working in the same dead end job as a barista, making the same drink with a million and one variations, saying the same words over and over with a fake smile and even faker voice. What was those eleven months, forty-seven weeks and 334 days anyway for the rest of her life?

Yet, now, Allie felt she was putting too much faith into herself.

Her first day of working wasn't really an official day of working; there was still the fact that Allie was, technically, taking a sick day from her current job – or, rather, past job. There was no formality with her accepting the job, nothing discussed other than pay and daily duties; part of her was uncertain with everything being discussed by word and Allie longed for some written form of proof, or a book with instructions titled _So, You Decided To Work For Tony Stark And You Regret It._

She could imagine it would be New York Times' next best seller.

So, despite her informally formally taking the job, there was still much to do before she could actually begin working. For one, she needed to explain her situation to Francis – after so hastily taking the position of being Stark's assistant, Allie hadn't really thought about how it might actually affect other parts of her life. Putting in a two weeks' notice would have been the decent thing to do, but it would be difficult to that and Allie couldn't help but feel like a complete asshole for leaving Francis short on staff; aside from that, she had to put thought into how she would even get to the Compound in the mornings – to Allie's horror, she was told that the workshop in the Compound would be where she would be situated during her time working for Stark; this was mostly because he never seemed to actually leave the place and her job was to seemingly dog his footsteps.

For all her contemplation during those weeks, Allie hadn't actually given much thought to the situation and to do so now resulted in a headache blooming in her temples.

Stark was insistent that she start right away, giving Allie little time to psych herself up or to even organise herself; she hadn't even thought to ask about holidays or days off, but she had a feeling that working for Tony Stark was an all year round job and there would be little time to take a break. To her dismay, she would have to take everything one at a time, to take whatever space she had to rest to put it to contemplation instead.

The first thing she had to deal with was telling Francis; Allie felt the guilt gnaw away at her stomach, at the fact she hadn't given any thought to actually being a decent person and giving him notice that she would be leaving. Coupled with how distant she had been during the past few weeks, Allie had a feeling her being asshole factor was going to through the roof with her ex-boss; though part of her dreaded the confrontation, the other half of Allie was somewhat _relieved_ as to having a reason to leave. No more hours of having to wear that fake smile, speak with that fake voice, to no longer having to put up with people yelling at her for the mistakes that they made. While she could applaud people who could manage to work in such a place for the rest of their lives, Allie felt that if she didn't get out soon, she would be stuck there for the rest of her life.

So, she made the call.

Or, rather, the visit.

It had been early in the morning, around the time that shop would open and Allie had been nervous, tightening her grip on her bag strap as she pushed the door open, feeling weird to be there without her uniform. Francis had been there, setting everything up for the day and had glanced over at her, smiling but then taking in her appearance.

It had been awkward, to say the least.

While there was no yelling or reprimanding, she could still sense his disappointment, maybe even a hint of annoyance lingering in his tone as he accepted her resignation, tight lipped yet not cold. He hadn't felt bothered to ask her where she was working now, and Allie hadn't felt inclined to tell him. It felt strange, to sever ties with something that had been a part of her life for so long, to leave behind people she had known for so long. Had Allie been more prone to such displays of emotions rather than internalising them, she might have shed a few tears but, instead, gave a crooked smile that Francis returned, before asking her if she wanted a drink for the road.

It felt like an olive branch and Allie took a hold of it, thinking that that was the best tea she had ever drank before in her life.

Getting to the Compound was another hurdle Allie had to surpass.

The morning commute was a pain in the ass to sit through but she found, quite quickly, that she could walk most of the way, past the worst of the traffic and through the city, before hailing a taxi to bring her the rest of the way. It might resulted in her having to wake up that bit earlier and walk that bit further, but it was better than sitting behind miles long traffic that could move an inch every two hours. Plus, the walk managed to wake her up more than anything, a hand stuffed in her pocket and the other wrapped around her takeaway drink, alternating between the two whenever the palm of her hand got too warm for her to handle. The frigidness of the morning would soon melt away to the warmth of the summer, but July was quickly slipping away to August and Allie knew the pain of being outside during the winter, the biting teeth of frost sinking into whatever little bit of exposed skin she had, but she could handle it, she always did.

She had dealt with all she needed to deal with, no loose ends fraying and all cases were closed.

And yet…

"Allie."

It was early in the morning, but already Allie could tell she was running late. Briefly, she could hear the gentle mumbling of the T.V humming in the background and there was the pitter patter of feet from upstairs, the rumbling of car engines and squawking of horns; Allie had learned to sleep through all the noise, had to if she wanted a decent night's sleep and now she felt she could sleep through anything.

At the moment, she was entangled in the duvet on her bed, legs twisting around the sheets as she held a pillow close to her chest, the remaining three askew beneath her head; it had become a habit that she had developed in her childhood that had remained with her to adulthood, finding it difficult to go to sleep unless she clutching something close to her in order to gain some veil of safety. There was a crick digging its way into her neck and Allie turned onto her stomach, the pillow she clutched to her chest doing little to lessen the feel of her arms digging into her due to the position as the world darkened, the light no longer managing to burn into behind her eyelids, making it all pink. Never before had Allie felt more comfortable, more warm and not sweating beneath the heavy blankets and she cursed her friend for even thinking about waking her from her sleep.

"Go away," Allie groaned, voice muffled due to the fact she was lying face first into her pillows, words being understandable as she curled closer into a ball, twisting herself so that she lay on her side, burying her nose into the pillow she held, catching the smell of her shampoo, of strawberries and sweet things that had been purchased cheap at some corner store that catered to all and any. There was a moment of silence before she could hear the click of Lisa's shoes, snapping down on the floor boards and then the warmth, the comfort of her own little world was ripped away from Allie, the freezing cold of the apartment sinking into her.

A growl left Allie as she turned around, eyes bleary and hurting at the light seeping in through her small, pathetic window and Allie glared at her friend, at Lisa as she stood with hands on hips and the duvet clutched in one hand, appearing every bit like a disapproving mother, complete with a _tsk_ and a shaking head.

"Listen, as much as I enjoy you wallowing in your regret and self-hatred," Lisa began, though not sounding as critical of Allie as she appeared, looking down at the curled up form of her roommate with a varying degree of humour, from the sight of Allie lying on her side in a ball to the make shift bed buddy being held in Allie's arms. Lisa shook her head once more, perfectly curled hair shaking around her shoulders as she did so before she threw the duvet clutched in her hand down, letting it lie in a heap in the bottom corner of the bed. "I don't think sleeping in while in the second week of your new job is a good idea."

"It's the best idea I've ever had, Leese," Allie said, blowing a raspberry as she flickered her gaze to the clock that lay on top of the all too cluttered bedside table; Allie didn't trust her phone to ring in the mornings and had had too many incidents where her phone had died in the middle of the night and she had awoken with horror to see that she was late; now, Allie almost dared the clock to keep ticking by. "Maybe I should just become an unemployed asshole instead of just being an asshole."

"It would add more to your personality."

"What personality?" Allie snorted and Lisa leant down to give a swift and soft slap to Allie's leg, giving a gentle laugh at Allie's words, looking more and more the stern mother with each passing second, even dressing the part with her pencil skirt and buttoned jacket, the white shirt beneath tight around her throat.

"Anyways, get up," Lisa ordered, voice firm and turning to leave, reaching up to fix an earring hanging on her ear, shoes clicking on the ground sharply as she moved. Part of Allie watched her go with envy at how _professional_ Lisa could manage to make herself appear, looking more the part as an assistant than Allie ever could, no matter if she was dressed in her best clothes. "Your disgusting tea is sitting on the counter stewing."

"It isn't disgusting," Allie called after her, tracking how Lisa moved back into her own room beside Allie's. For all they complained about how terrible the place was, it was large enough for the two girls to have enough privacy; as always, money could always buy the best in New York. "It's the only way tea should be made!"

"Okay, Al, whatever you say. Get your ass in gear!" Lisa hollered and there was the sound of a closing door, leaving Allie alone in her bed, body bare and holding her pillow close to her body, the warmth that had left her being seeped into the cushion and mimicking the body heat of another person, making her that bit more sleepy but Allie knew she couldn't be late, knew that Lisa was right.

For a moment, Allie lay there, cold and pouting, scowling at the alarm clock that blinked and was falling closer and closer to her being most definitely late. With a growl and a curse, Allie pulled herself up, a frown deepening on her lips as she swung her legs down from the bed, shivering at the feel of the cold floor pressing against her feet. For all Allie's complaining and whining, Lisa knew very well that Allie would hate to be overly late and that sometimes all she needed was a little push to prevent the panic that would have occurred had she remained in bed.

If there was one thing Allie hated, it was the fact that she had to dress in clean and professional clothes, no more converse, no more wearing the same half of a uniform that was a life saver as it prevented her from ruining her own clothes and Allie was quickly running out of things to wear; it had come to the point she was even borrowing clothes from Lisa under the promise that she would be going shopping later that week in order to buy herself a new wardrobe. If there was one thing Allie hated more than working to earn money, it was _spending_ that hard earned money. But, as she slipped on the same pair of jeans for the second day in a row, she wondered if maybe being such a tight arse with money wasn't doing her any good.

For the most part, Allie kept to black and white clothes, the boots she had previously never worn before becoming her new best friend as she paired them with everything she wore nowadays; Lisa had permanently given Allie ownership of her black jacket as it was too tight for Lisa and her somewhat taller than average stature and the shirts Allie had been wearing weren't as noticeable when she threw the new piece of clothing on over it.

Make up had become part of her new routine, too; Allie couldn't remember the last time she had worn make up for multiple consecutive days, thinking maybe it had been in her teen years when make up was all she had to cover her acne and to make her red cheeks and acne scars less noticeable. While it had calmed down significantly in her adult years, it remained to some degree but Allie didn't want to put anything on her face that might make it flare up or to cause her to break out. Plus, there wasn't really any point in wearing make up to work before since it would have melted off of her within the hour.

It wasn't that she didn't know how to apply makeup, it was that she wasn't sure she had to energy to up keep it throughout the day; but, since she didn't want to appear like a dead rat turning up to work, it begrudgingly became a part of her morning routine, even if the end result did bolster her self-esteem.

Allie could hear the movement of Lisa in her own room, footsteps light yet loud against the floor as Lisa moved out into the living room of the apartment, the T.V mumbling in the background humdrum of the grey morning; after Lisa had managed to secure a small position secretary at some big time law firm, the two were rarely home anymore between early in the morning and late at night, making the place feel more like a ghost town; still, money was money and Allie couldn't help but fantasise what she could manage to do if she had enough cash buried in her pocket. With a huff, tugging on the hem of her jacket, Allie deemed herself presentable, no longer caring to put her hair through the torture of running the straightener through it and letting it fall loose around her – though she knew herself well enough that it would be tucked into a hair tie in less than two hours.

Taking a hold of her bag, Allie slipped it over her shoulder and all but stomped her way out of the room, ignoring how heavy her bag was these days due to the amount of work she was carrying home with her to bring back the following day. The paperwork was astounding, consisting of contract work, of letters that were both professional and personal; part of her heart broke into small pieces that puddled into a pit of guilt in the bottom of her stomach as she read many of them, of how they went ignored, how they called for help, gave praise and some were nothing but letters comprising of nothing but poison filled, bitter and cruel words that cursed Stark and the Avengers.

Those were the ones she got rid of first and the quickest.

"Don't you look presentable!"

Allie pulled herself from her thoughts to catch sight of Lisa at the table, pushing away her bowl of soggy _Special K,_ a hand wrapped around her morning drink, perfectly painted nails tapping against the ceramic as she gestured to the other mug resting on the counter, indicating it was Allie's for the taking. Allie gave a groan at Lisa's words, ignoring how much her eyes hurt due to staring at letters on a page for so long and the fact she couldn't exactly wear her glasses to ease the ache unless she wanted to ruin the makeup she had on her face for the rest of the day. Contact lenses were a big no-no and the day she'd put something into her eye would be the day she would let herself be buried alive in her own grave.

"I feel like shit," Allie grunted, slipping her bag onto the back of the only other free chair available, walking to the counter to make her tea and nearly letting out a sigh at the warmth of the drink as it bled into her cold palms. Lisa chortled, leaning back into her chair and taking a sip from her own drink, the tint of her lipstick staining the lip of the mug as Allie moved to sit beside her, slumping in her chair and forcing a yawn away.

"Then don't stay up so late," Lisa teased, watching as Allie stifled her yawn, wincing at the burn on her tongue that ran her throat before she spoke.

"I had no choice! I actually had to bring stuff home to work through!" Allie complained, voice high and whining as the ache in her eyes spiked again as if pained by the memory of how much _reading_ was involved in her daily life now and, had she not put on mascara, she might had rubbed at them until stars burst and died in her vision. "Lisa, you don't understand how much _paperwork_ he's been ignoring. He's been shoving them into cupboards!"

"It can't be that bad," Lisa replied, offering little sympathy to Allie's plight and becoming used to the latter's daily complaining about her job.

"I'm pretty sure I found something that said he was being sued by the entire food chain of Dunkin' Donuts because he destroyed so many of their stores during The Incident. He put it into a _cereal_ box." It was true and Allie dreaded finding _more_ work awaiting her in the most unlikely of places; she was all for the 'out of sight, out of mind' way of life, but this was reaching new heights she wasn't used to.

"You've done that before."

"It wasn't very important business I stuffed into the cereal box, Leese."

"No," Lisa stated, rolling her eyes at Allie, placing her cup down onto the table, tracing half-moon rings on the wood that ran through the knots on the laminated top with a soft and dull _clink_. "Ignore every pressing manner with alarming anxiety."

"I have not!" Allie defended lamely but Lisa gave Allie a pointed look, one that Allie knew all too well and she dropped her defence, knowing that Lisa was right. For all her dragging of Stark, Allie had spent the better part of her life abiding by the 'out of sight, out of mind' motto but found that Stark was quickly challenging her for the title of being a champion of ignoring all and anything.

"Allie, it took you nearly three weeks to take a job with amazing pay," Lisa remarked and Allie opened her mouth, tongue ready to once more defend herself before she shut it once more, screwing up her face in realisation at the fact that Lisa's words were right, turning to wrap both hands around her cup and clicking her tongue.

"That's different."

"Right."

Allie turned her gaze to Lisa from the corner of her eyes, sharp and narrowing as she watched a smile curve around the cup, green eyes glinting with something that looked like smugness. Once more that morning, Allie blew a raspberry and placed her elbow on the edge of the table, the curve of her jaw resting against her palm while being careful not to smudge her makeup, eyes gazing off into the distance of the pale turquoise wallpaper of the apartment. "Don't give me that. It's so tiring and I've only been there for a few days. Do you think Francis will take me back if I begged?"

A sudden, small pain exploded in the back of Allie's skull and Allie straightened, a stifled gasp leaving her as her hand reached to the back of her head, clamping over the source of the pain as Lisa half stood from her hair, hand poised and ready to strike again with a disapproving glare at Allie, whose blue eyes were wide with shock and disbelief at Lisa's actions. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You're being stupid!" Lisa hissed, not yet sitting as her hands placed themselves on the dip in her waist and Allie rubbed at the pain in the back of her head, pouting.

"I'm always stupid!" Allie retorted, voice once more taking on the high, whining tone that had become frequent these past coming days and Lisa shook her head, raising her hand once more as if to strike Allie but the other woman darted from beneath her hand, eyes wide and trying to ignore the speed at which her heart was racing. It wasn't Lisa's fault, she knew, and the sudden panic that raced through her was made up an irrational fear, of old fears that were useless and no longer important. At the back of her mind, there was a spike in terror that Allie squashed down because it wasn't real, the danger wasn't real and she tucked away all those thoughts, all those niggling fears that found their way to the surface once more as she watched Lisa sit down, unaware of her actions, of Allie's reaction.

"Even more so now!" Lisa sighed, taking a swig from her drink as Allie leaned back into her chair once more, finding comfort instead of hanging off of the edge of the seat; she willed her heart to slow, to keep her voice steady and to find the strength to keep everything in the back of her mind and to not let those thoughts sink their fangs into her. It was too early in the morning to start repressing past traumatic experiences – and she hadn't even finished her tea yet.

"I don't think being stupid warrants a hit on the head," Allie grumbled, giving a small sniff as she once more gave the stinging spot one last brush with the pads of her fingers before sipping her drink, mind wandering to buying her breakfast during her travel to work. It was what she had been doing the past few days and she found it woke her up better rather than scarfing down a soggy bowl of cereal.

"In this situation, it does," Lisa said, letting the crook of her arm rest over the back of the chair. "You've been complaining non-stop since you took this job."

"If I wanted to be given out to with that look of disappointment, I would have rang up my mother," Allie sighed, nearly snapping before Lisa turned to Allie, eyebrow cocked and seeming less light hearted, as if she was already in the role of being a serious faced secretary rather than just being Lisa, the same girl who had burst into tears for 15 minutes after watching Bambi's mother die. (Allie had comforted her after she managed to reel back in her own tears after that rather traumatic scene in the movie.)

"You've given yourself until next June, yeah?" Lisa asked, crossing her legs and Allie gave a limp nod in response. "Then just soldier through it. Take your work, take the hits, and get through it."

"I know, Leese," Allie mumbled, voice low and heavy as she reached up to run her hand through her freshly brushed hair, catching on the few knotted strands entangled in each other before snaring them free as she once more rested her head on the palm of her hand. "I'm not trying to purposely be like… this."

"Like a whiney baby?" Lisa teased, a smirk on her lips and Allie returned it with a playful glare.

"Precisely," she responded before she dropped her eyes, catching on the deep rooted knots and nicks in the wood of the table, eyebrows furrowing and trying to form a proper sentence to voice the worry that weighed down in her chest. It felt silly to her, felt like she was just being over dramatic but part of Allie knew, just _knew_ that it wasn't the paranoia, but a real and valid fear that had been partly the reason why she had managed to survive so long. Lisa knew and she hadn't judged her, hadn't turned her nose up at the other woman. A breath heaved in Allie's chest as she chewed on her cheek, attempting to string the words together so that Lisa might understand. "It's just… it's almost a year with _Tony Stark_ , Leese, it sounds ridiculous. I keep thinking… about how it might all blow up in my face. Say I do my year and then I leave, what if he decides to dig deeper? What do I do then? I know that he shouldn't be able to find anything but… but what if he does?"

By the end, Allie was staring at Lisa, as if hoping she might have all the answers but Allie knew Lisa didn't, of course she didn't, but that didn't mean she could hope for some guidance, something to keep her mind from plunging itself into an abyss. Lisa's eyes narrowed just by a fraction, head tilting itself to the side as the bare audible hum of the T.V filled the pregnant pause.

"Why are you so concerned with what he thinks?" Lisa asked and Allie felt the furrow on her brow deepen, scowl deepening at Lisa's words as she pondered on her friend's words. It wasn't so much as she cared what he thought (she didn't) but it was more so on what he might _do._ The thought of it all made Allie's stomach tie itself into knots and she knew that had she eaten breakfast already, she might had thrown it up there and then. Allie shook her head, an exasperated sigh bleeding past her lips.

"I… I don't know. Because maybe he could actually _do_ something. Maybe because he could blackmail me into staying," Allie mumbled, not caring to look back to meet Lisa's stare but there was a gentle touch on her elbow, making Allie turn her attention and meet the concerned green eyes of Lisa.

"Are you so sure he's like that?"

Allie's mouth opened, a sharp inhale pooling in her chest to fill her words but nothing came out as she thought on the words, on what she actually thought of Stark. She didn't know him – well, she knew him but she didn't _know_ him, didn't know anything about him save for what she read in tabloids and articles, what was written on his miles long Wikipedia page and the endless Youtube videos of interviews and everything in between.

She didn't know who Tony Stark was and didn't pretend to know him.

But…

For all his jackassery, for all the teasing and such, did Allie really think him capable of doing what she thought he could do? What he _should_ do if he ever did dig too deep? That pit of guilt in the bottom of her stomach bubbled, boiling and frothing due to her thoughts; she always sought to see the worst in people so as to not feel the cruel sting of disappointment later and it always made her feel guilty, always made her feel like she was the bad guy – which she most likely was. Had Stark not offered a job – and a job with amazing pay, at that – when she had little to no experience? Granted it was either work for him or jail, but it was better than having her only choice being going to prison. He wasn't truly as condescending as he was in high self-regard and it wasn't as annoying as it had been once she learned that he didn't seem to mind when she would snipe right back at him. Allie shook her head meekly at Lisa and stared into the puddle of her drink, a frown on her lips.

"No. No, he isn't," she decided, a hefty exhale pushed through her nose as a groan left her. "Great, now I feel like such a cynical bitch for assuming the worst in people."

"It's understandable," Lisa attempted to comfort and Allie turned to her, a questioning look on her face.

"Being a bitch?"

"No, assuming the worst," Lisa chuckled, before it faded off into silence, an uncertain look gracing itself onto Lisa's features; it was a look Allie knew, one that she had learned to mean that Lisa was wondering whether she should say what was on her mind or not, which almost always resulted in the former. Lisa scooted her chair closer and linked her hands together, chewing on her bottom lip before she found her voice, looking at Allie with something that burned – _pity._ "Al… you know I can't ever judge you. You're my best friend and I get why you're worried, even if I hate the complaining and what. Whatever you do decide, I'll back you."

Allie mulled over Lisa's words, turning away briefly to ponder on her own thoughts on what she should do, as if there was anything she could do. Lisa was right, as always; all Allie could do now was to just soldier on, to go through each day and keep her mind focused on that deadline on June and to not let anything ever bother her or deter her from reaching it. Allie took a breath, shoulders rising before she turned to Lisa with a small smile curving on her lips. "I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

"Oh hush," Lisa snorted, leaning back into her chair once more. Allie found herself noticing how too often the two of them found themselves discussing Allie's problems, too often was Allie turning to Lisa for her own problems. It annoyed Allie at how so easily and readily she was to dump her troubles onto her friend. "Drink your gross tea and get to work."

"Yes, mammy," Allie teased, finished the lukewarm drink with a grimace at the same time as Lisa did, taking the two cups over the sink and giving them a quick rinse under the tap before leaving them on the rack to dry as she heard a beep coming from within her bag. Shaking her hands free from the loose droplets, Allie made her way to the bag that hung on the shoulder of the chair, rooting for the device until her fingers rushed over it, pulling it free from the confinements and the trinkets that lay in the bottom, wiping her damp hands on her clothes before she opened it up, the sight of what was before her nearly warranting a roll of her eyes due to the message.

 _'i sure do hope my favourite assistant doesn't decide to skip work today :('_

"Who is it?" Lisa asked as she turned back to Allie, catching sight of her screwed up face, as will as the fact there was a small quirk at the corner of her lips.

"Three guesses," Allie shot back, taking a hold of her bag strap and slipping it on her shoulder, not looking up as she quickly typed out her reply to Stark (' _i'm ur ONLY assistant so :^/')_ , sending it a whistle from Lisa caused Allie to turn her eyes up at her friend.

"Well… at least you finally have a guy hitting you up," Lisa snorted, making a look half torn between horror and feeling grossed out flitted over Allie's face, nose scrunching as her phone buzzed. (' _don't put noses on your emojis :('._ )

"Gross! He's, like, fifty!" Allie exclaimed but that seem to bother or deter Lisa as she gave a half shrug at Allie's statement.

"Forty-five, actually," she said, causing Allie to stare at her in silence, almost judging the fact that Lisa knew how old her boss was and Allie didn't and Lisa rolled her eyes. "Listen, every college kid has a low point where a sugar daddy is the only choice."

"And you're assuming I'm out of that low point," Allie joked, turning back to face the screen of her phone as she turned on her heel to leave, reaching into her bag to make sure she had enough cash money in order to buy herself a warm breakfast. ( _'why :^) ever :^) not :^) mr. stark :^) ? :^)))))')_

"Leave! Go!"

( _:(!_ ')

* * *

"You are exactly three and a half minutes late."

Stark turned around in his chair, a smudge of grease rushing along the bridge of his nose as he adopted a look of faux disapproval on his face, arms over his chest and shaking his head at Allie as she strolled in, clutching yet another takeaway cup of tea that was still rather hot as the remnants of her breakfast remained in her mouth. Allie paused in her footsteps, raising an eyebrow at Stark and how he was trying to appear stern but it was hard to believe him when she could see was attempting not to smile. Allie reached into her pocket, clicking the home screen button and seeing that, indeed, he was right and she turned back to him.

"Are we counting the minutes now?" she asked, making her way over to her "desk" – the term was used loosely since it was far from being anything that Allie could actually work on, save for using the laptop she had taken from home and sorting through the large amounts of paper that were piled high on the edges of the table, her own make shift tower of Pisa that was threatening to collapse at any given moment. Allie placed her drink down on the table, sighing at the amount of unprocessed work that lay before her before turning eyes back to Stark, watching him roll himself away without standing from the chair to the other end of the workshop.

Allie actually wished that Stark was less of a recluse so that she might be able to save her eyes from the sight of the amount of work that awaited her, her glasses lying forgotten in the bottom of her bag.

"Only when I have to," Stark stated, raising his voice slightly so as to be heard as she watched him continue to tinker, somehow being able to find sense in all the chaos that was his workshop. It still amazed Allie that, for all the mess that surrounded her, he seemed to know where everything was, could name everything in its exact place. She had been careful in moving things around, keeping only to her small spot in the place to work on replying to the thousand upon thousands of e-mails and calls that soon flooded her phone after agreeing to work with Stark. For the most part, her job mostly comprised of denying invitations to dinners and charity events alike, though agreeing to donate a sum of money for whatever charity that was seeking it.

At times, he would disappear behind that high security door, the one that Allie had been dying to ask about but managed to stop herself from doing so; she had a feeling that was where he kept his _suits_ , where he went to work on all things Avengers and the sort. Allie wanted nothing more than to sneak a peak but didn't want to appear nosy – the man had spent most of his life having his privacy intruded by the public and paparazzi alike, she hoped to let him have some form of secrecy.

"I didn't know my absence would be so noticed," Allie muttered, more so to herself than anything but it caught on the echo that was present in the room, carrying itself over to Stark where he caught wind of it.

"Well, it is," he replied back, standing from his chair and throwing her a smile as he began moving away into the other breakaway room of the workshop, where he spent most of his time working on all types of cars that Allie didn't even trying to name so as to not insult them. Stark disappeared around the corner, voice loud and calling back to Allie. "Coffee, black."

"Yes, Mr. Stark," she sighed, taking a sip from her own drink and moving around her desk, finally memorising the steps she must take so as to not knock anything or push anything from its place. The place was bigger than her own apartment but felt small, claustrophobic due to the sheer amount of junk that littered the place. But it felt homely, maybe due to the fact there was an actual kitchen put in place that Allie had yet to see be stocked with proper food and beverages. She wondered if he ever left the damned place, ever managed to actually step into the sunlight and breath in fresh air. She had entertained the thought of maybe going food shopping so that she wouldn't enter the place and find him dead, face first on the ground.

Knowing her luck, it might just happen.

Still, he had managed to survive this far without her, but it is technically her job to keep her boss functioning to some degree. She could do it the next time she went shopping, and what was a few dollars anyway?

Making her way into the kitchen (which might appear to have been hastily put it, was more done up than her own one at home) Allie clicked the kettle on – the kettle was one of the first things she invested in when she came here, as she couldn't stand the use of a coffee maker, nor did she understand how to use it. It had been a culture shock to Allie when she learned that kettles were not a common household item in many homes and it had been one of the first things she had corrected upon living here; it made life so much _easier_ and she had refused to throw her own away despite years of decaying until Lisa convinced her to buy another one. She would never force herself to witness any hot drink being made by sticking it into a microwave ever again.

She peered around the kitchen, taking in the sight of the mess and it made her sigh yet again, glimpsing at the papers that were gathering dust and were limp and willing to fall over the edge. Taking note of the mess and reminding herself to clean it later, Allie quickly made the coffee, nearly gagging at the sight and smell, wondering how could he ever subject himself to such torture so early in the morning. It was positively _vile_ and Allie held it at a distance from her, keeping one eye on her footsteps and one of the drink, careful to not drip any of it so that she would not end up falling ass over tit. The sound of music startled her at being put on so suddenly, nearly making her jump and she grumbled beneath her breath, cursing Stark at almost giving her a heart attack as she made her way to him, ignoring how much colder it was in this part of the workshop.

Allie flickered her gaze around the room and caught sight of his legs sticking out beneath the carcass of a torn apart car, making her way over and standing over him, waiting for him to roll out to take his drink from her hand; when Allie realised he hadn't noticed her presence due to the fact the blaring music silenced her entranced and the fact he couldn't actually see her, she stopped down, heels on the ground with knees bent as she tapped him on the knee, Stark instantly pulling himself free from beneath and giving a satisfied sigh at the sight of the cup, taking it from Allie's hand and sipping on it. The smell of metal and oil and rust invaded Allie's nose and it stung, making her recoil as she stood, watching Stark roll himself back under while placing the drink beside him

"Hey, have you seen my phone?" he called out from underneath, nearly having to shout over how loud the music was. "I put it down somewhere and I can't find it."

"You're asking me where is the phone that you literally used this morning? The person who literally just arrived not ten minutes ago?" Allie asked, screwing up her face and Stark rolled out from beneath the car, awaiting her answer and they held the stare before Allie gave an exhale, shoulders slumping and nodding, pointing over to where she could just about see the door to kitchen. "Yeah, it's over on the table beneath the stack of papers."

He gave a thumbs up in response and Allie took it as a sign for her to leave and get back to work, palms pressed together and moving back and forth to dispel whatever coldness that might have clung to her bones. The music wasn't so loud from where she worked, making it less likely for a headache to form.

For the most part, Allie was quite confident in what she should do during her day; most of the e-mails sent to her were ones asking if Mr. Stark would be able to attend this, or give a speech at that, or donate to such and such. She replied with the same thing every time and she wondered if she should start using copy and paste in order to speed up the process but found that to be a little too cold hearted. Her tea turned cold and when she couldn't handle staring at the screen of her computer any longer, she turned to the stacks of paper beside her, a raspberry sounding as she let out a breath, grabbing a hold of as much as she could take in both hands and began sorting through them, the job tedious and very boring.

Despite the fact that the majority of it being useless nonsense that Allie could throw away without a second thought, some of it made her hesitant to dump into the trashcan she had elected to place beside her desk that was quickly filling it. While she knew that he had said to only run things concerning the Avengers by him, there were many that contained urgent notices that Allie thought were important enough to warrant his attention. And it was, technically, her job to run these things by him, so he couldn't really get annoyed at her for doing her job. One of the first things Lisa had taught her was that it was better to be yelled at and be sure, than assume and be fired.

As if sensing her indecisiveness, Allie caught a glimpse of movement as the music was lowered, no longer pounding against the walls as Stark walked in, chugging down his drink as fast as he could without paying any heed to the fact he might scorch his throat and mouth at doing so. Taking the chance, Allie scooped what she had reviewed into her arms and made her way over to Stark, following his footsteps.

"Mr. Stark, I have a couple of things I need to run by you," she began and he didn't jump at the sound of her voice from behind him, nor did he turn to face her as he continued to make his way around the workshop, seeking refuge in the kitchen as Allie straightened the stack in her arms, fingers flicking over the edges and casting down to the top of the pile. "There are a _lot_ of letters concerning the work in Sokovia."

At that, Stark did turn and Allie halted in her steps, nearly slamming into him at his sudden movement as he pursed his lips, seeming less amused at her words but not snapping as she thought he would, much to Allie's relief. He chewed on her words for a moment before turning away once more and moving to put his empty cup into the sink upside down. "Oh?"

"Personal ones aside," Allie started, taking it as a sign to continue her inquiry and took the first one off the top, taking it in her hand and holding it for her to read, babbling as she spoke and getting all she could in before he would decide that he didn't want to hear anymore and make her life that bit more difficult. "It's mostly just contract work and the recovering of sites. Because a lot of the sites where the most destruction was caused are now under the control of the Stark Relief Foundation, there have been a lot of inquiries into whether rebuilding can – "

"Agree to it."

Allie blinked, tearing eyes away from the page and back to Stark, watching him as he turned the kettle back on, no longer complaining at having to use it. When she had first brought it in, he had all but turned his nose up at it but now it seemed that his intake of coffee tripled in size ever since. Allie opened her mouth, fumbling for words as she continued to hold the page out in front of her, confused.

"But… you haven't looked at it."

"Don't need to," he stated, throwing her a wave of the hand over his shoulder, watching the kettle click finish and pouring it into his new, clean cup. Allie frowned at the fact he didn't bother using the same one but kept her trap shut before she could say anything. His voice was exasperated, heavy and devoid of the usual light heated tone that he kept when he spoke. Allie almost forgot that he had been there during Sokovia, that it wasn't an empty metal suit but a real human who had seen countless lives destroyed, saw so much destruction unfold and could do little to stop it. She wondered if his dreams kept him up at night and if the coffee was a way to keep them at bay. "Civilian homes and lots can be given back to the control of Sokovia once the rubble has been cleared and… and once the recovering is done."

She knew what the pause meant, knew what lingered behind the word _recover_ and her lips pressed together, looking down and trying to not think of all the videos that had been shoved in front of her, of all the photos of blooded and bent bodies trapped beneath bricks and buildings. Her stomach knotted and Allie swallowed the lump in her throat, pushing forward quickly and away from all those dreary thoughts, those dreadful realities for some people.

"Right," Allie said, breathing the word out sharply and trying to not let him catch on to what she was thinking, shaking her head and scattering the thoughts before turning back to the more important matters at hand, shuffling the papers as she continued. "And, there's been an inquiry into whether you'll be attending – "

"Nope. Next," Stark said instantly, cutting Allie off and her face pinched together as he turned back around, nonchalant and unbothered as he drank, awaiting the next order of business.

"You didn't even listen to what I was going to say!" Allie cried with dismay and he raised his brow.

"Is it a charity event?"

"Well…" Allie hesitated, maybe hoping that she could lie or twist her words but a quick glance to the page and found that it would be next to impossible to do so, finishing her sentence with a semblance of defeat. "Yes."

"Then I already know," Stark shrugged, pleased at having won out against Allie and he paused for a moment, mulling over his thoughts before he pushed himself from the counter and across the kitchen. "Donate whatever money is needed and send a heartfelt and longwinded e-mail that, unfortunately, I can't make it, so on and so forth."

"Should I just use copy and paste from now on?" Allie mumbled, intending the words to be for herself but they came out louder than she expected and she turned pink, watching Stark stop in his footsteps and giving her unintentional suggestion a thought before nodding, uncaring and moving forward to make his way past Allie as she stood near the door way.

"If it speeds up the process quicker, then knock yourself out."

"Fine," Allie all but snapped, nearly wanted to tear her hair out as she trailed after Stark, shuffling the papers in her arms once more to move onto the next thing that she felt that needed attention. "I also have to – "

"Tell me, Ms. Lawrence," Stark suddenly said, rounding on Allie and once more nearly making her stumble. _Bastard_ , Allie hissed in her mind as she stopped the papers in her arms from flying everywhere, scattering on the ground that would have been a pain in the arse to clean up. He seemed unbothered by his sudden action, hair wild and untamed, curling at the ends and catching in the curve of his ears, beneath the collar of his shirt. "How long have you been learning about how to crack firewalls?"

That was not she was expecting.

Allie blinked, confused and befuddled at his question as she let her arms drop slightly, looking up at him. "I'm… sorry?"

"To break it down in layman's terms: codes, data, firewalls – the whole shebang," he further explained, taking a step away from Allie and moving to one of the desks that held what looked to be one of the few fully intact computers in the room, the others locked away for his use and safe from any prying eyes. Allie kept her eyes trained on him as he reclaimed his tattered and worn down swivel chair once more, rolling it beneath the lip of the desk.

"I don't see how's the relevant to my job – _sir_ ," Allie said, hastily sticking the last word onto the end of her sentence so as to need seem rude or bristly. Truthfully, all she wanted was to get her job done and she wasn't sure if she had the energy to put up with whatever game he was trying to play with her. Stark turned himself around and adopted a look of surprise on his face/

"Oh, it's very relevant. You see, after the whole situation of you managing to breach my security while _drunk_ ," Stark emphasised, giving Allie a pointed look that caused the warmth in her cheeks to deepen, making her sure that had she not been wearing makeup, her face would have been far too red for her liking. "I've come to realise I'm not as invincible as I thought."

"Uh… you're welcome?" Allie coughed, unsure of what to reply with.

"Not really," he sighed and Allie dropped all pretence of shyness to give him a deadpan look that didn't deter him. He moved back and forth in his chair, the two eyeing each other before he broke first. "So, tell me, how long?"

Maybe if she relented, she could finish this quickly and get back to what she was meant to be doing. With a sigh, Allie replied, moving to place what was in her arms in a steady stack on a spare space on a smooth surface, one of the few that were in the room but only because it was one of the places Allie had been allowed to clear up. "Since I was fourteen, Mr. Stark."

"And that was, what, five years ago?" he snorted, garnering a glare from Allie.

"I'm not _that_ young," she insisted, arms snaking around her chest in a very unamused manner as Stark copied her stance while sitting, mimicking but not mocking.

"Anyone born after '89 is practically a baby," he stated and Allie let out an indignant huff, a strand of her hair catching and being pushing back from where it lay tickling her cheek.

"I'm twenty-five!"

"Wow, you're like a little baby," Stark cooed and had Allie been allowed to, she would have given him a smack on the arm but found that she worked better with words rather than her physical strength – or rather, her lack of it.

"Only because you're absolutely _ancient,_ " she sneered without a thought and an uncharacteristic pout found its way onto his lips, slumping into his chair as he acted the part of a wounded pup, big brown eyes almost gleaming and catching on the lights on the ceiling,

"Ow, ow, _ow_ ," Stark gasped, giving a sniffle and clapping his hand on his chest, giving a sharp _tsk_ with his tongue. "Sticks and stones, Ms. Lawrence, sticks and stones."

"Can I ask why you're asking me this?" Allie inquired, trying to not appear as hostile as well as letting curiosity get the best of her; Stark couldn't have seemed happier at her question as he gave a bright, toothy grin at Allie.

"Call it curiosity," he beamed.

"I have a feeling it's nosiness," Allie countered.

"Same difference," he scoffed, shrugging and Allie might have tried to argue had he not been right to some degree. He clapped his hands together, palms and fingers pressed together and pointed towards Allie as he spoke. "The point is, I want to know if you've actually thought to try and perfect a security system rather than break it down. That's where true skill lies."

"Uh, no. I haven't," Allie revealed. It wasn't the whole truth, but he didn't need to know that. "I've never seen a point to doing it, or have had the chance."

"Great! Because here's your chance!" he exclaimed, hands breaking apart to spread at his side, the bright smile on his face causing crinkles to appear along his eyes, the laugh lines digging deep and making him appear that bit warmer, eyes bright and throwing back the dotted reflection of the lights. "I did say I would teach you some things. Apprentice, meet master."

He gestured to her at the former and to himself at the latter and Allie pulled a face at his words. "Is there a Human Resources department I can call?"

"How about: student, meet more experienced student," he hastily corrected and Allie gave a satisfied shrug and he leant back in his chair, seemingly satisfied with his correction. "We can have a 'learn from each other' kind of thing."

"Mr. Stark, I'd really rather just do my job," Allie sighed, no longer having the energy to keep him entertained. It wasn't a lie and she got a pain just by throwing a glance to her rather pathetic looking desk that sat in the far corner, scowling at the sight of how much work lay awaiting for her. "I have a lot to do."

"It'll still be there when you're done!" he half sighed, half pushed, as if it would make her jump at his offer.

"Unfortunately," Allie whispered but the man must have ears like a dog because, by God, did he managed to catch onto her words. Or maybe it was because Allie was absolutely terrible at muttering to herself.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing, Mr. Stark. Listen, I think I should get the work that's need to be done before I do anything else."

"As your boss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you that this is a very important part of your training and needs to be done immediately," he stated rather seriously, but he didn't appear to be serious about being, well, serious and Allie found herself breaking.

"Fine, _fine_ ," Allie finally relented with a groan, reaching up to gently pinch the bridge of her nose, careful not to remove the makeup that she had placed there that morning. Life would have been much easier if she could just gently place her face into her hands and scream into them but she really didn't want to end up ruining her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "If it needs to be done, I'll do it. Then can I _please_ get my work done?"

"It would be easier to just put everything into a shredder," he told her with a shrug and Allie looked to him, eyes narrowed.

"Do you _have_ a shredder?" she asked him and his mouth opened before promptly closing, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Ironically, no. I could build one for you, if you want," he offered, sitting up straighter as if he was hoping for her to say yes, as if he wanted something to keep him busy, but Allie gave a quick, pre-emptive shake her head at his suggest.

"I'd be afraid it'd start shooting lasers or something of the sort," she said.

"Nonsense! It'd be cooler if it could break down anything – metal, cement, bone, wood. You name it."

"I really, _really_ don't want to know why you included bone on that list," Allie stressed, trying not to feel somewhat creeped out at his little list but he cocked his head to side.

"Why not?" he asked and that made Allie stare even wider at him.

"Alright then, Hannibal Lector, let's just do whatever you want me to do and let's do it quick."

* * *

"Wrong."

"What do you mean _wrong_?!"

"I meant you did it wrong."

"That's a lie, and you know it. I've been at this for nearly _two_ hours and I've already missed my lunch break! You're just being cruel."

Allie pushed herself back into her chair, sulking as her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the screen and then glowering at Stark who was torn between being amused at her reaction and feeling exasperated at the fact that they had spent so long at this and Allie had not yet gotten the hang at it. Despite the fact Allie was failing miserably at honing her skills to his standard, she had yet to see him get annoyed, to show her some 'tough support' in order to make her get her skills to a standard he approved of without having to rely on an accessory to aid her.

"Cruelty is one of life's greatest teachers, Ms. Lawrence," he consoled, shaking his head sadly as if he knew she could never manage to surpass him. "One day you'll learn."

"What, when I'm as old as you?" Allie scoffed, ignoring the pain in her stomach at the fact she had, unwittingly, missed her lunch break without her noticing due to the fact she had been so engrossed in her impromptu lesson. Rather than getting annoyed at her comment, Stark actually gave a laugh instead, the two trading barbs far too easily for employer and employee.

"You have another forty years before that happens," he said and Allie turned to him, blinking and both processed his words, neither knowing of what to make of them.

"I don't know if that's supposed to insult me or you."

Stark pondered for a moment, trying to decide before making up his mind. "Both, I think."

"I'm not doing it wrong," Allie whined, pulling herself up into a straight position as the ache in her back began to twinge again, wrists hurting and fingers stiff, the jacket she had been wearing long since gone and thrown over the back of her chair, sleeves tucked up to the crook of her elbow and her hair was – as she had predicted earlier this morning – tied to the nape of her neck after it had begun to annoy her some time ago. "I know I'm not."

"Wrong yet again, Ms. Lawrence. Maybe you should stop thinking with your head, and stark thinking with your fingers." Stark screwed his face up in unison with Allie, his words hitting both of them and he gave a shudder, closing his eyes and giving his head a short and brief nod, as if relenting to her earlier statement. "Okay, no, I heard that and it sounded wrong."

"I'm _tired_ , I'm going to take a break – you know, to make up for the one I missed," she pointed out and Stark threw up both hands, palms facing outwards in surrender and he moved away, making his way across the workshop in the chair, not caring to look at what was being pushed around.

"Alright, alright."

Allie stood to her feet, taking a hold of her jacket in her hand and slipping her arms through the sleeves, pulling her ponytail free from the collar and letting her soft curls fall down her back, reaching up to sweep any loose strands back behind her ears. Stark began to fiddle with something Allie couldn't name, a strange looing piece that he tinkered with, his tongue peaking out form the corner of his mouth as he did so; tearing her eye away, Allie made her way back to her bag, taking the strap in her hand and slipping it over her head so that it rested at the crook of her neck, the bulging back bumping against her hip.

Allie turned, hand reaching in to take her wallet before a thought occurred to her, trespassing to the forefront of her mind and making her footsteps still; while she had managed to sneak a few snacks throughout her missed lunch break, she hadn't actually seen Stark eat at all through the day and that was worrying for anyone. Allie chewed on her bottom lip as she stiffly turned on her heel, unsure of her words and of her actions. Truth be told, Allie hadn't ever seen him eat through out the day save for shoving a few hastily made sandwiches down his gullet but only when Allie would prompt him, taking notice that he hadn't eaten; she bit on her tongue, mind half screaming at her to go, the other half pushing her to say the words.

"Do… you want anything?" Allie asked awkwardly, the latter half of her mind winning out while watching Stark slowly turn in his chair and stare at her, pausing in his tinkering and giving her a strange look as if he was uncertain as to why she was asking – just as Allie was unsure why she was asking him too. She fumbled for a moment before clearing her throat, ignoring how tongue-tied she was. There wasn't really anything wrong with asking someone if they wanted to eat, was there? People needed food to survive! He didn't have to look at her so weirdly. "I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you eat all day."

"Is that _concern_ , Ms. Lawrence?" Stark said, a grin winding itself onto his mouth but it didn't seem to quite reach his eyes and Allie shifted on her feet, giving a half hearted laugh. He didn't think her to be so cold hearted as to not actually care about his wellbeing? He was the one signing her pay cheques after all; he couldn't do that if he was dead.

"I can't have my new boss dying on me after just getting hired. Not again, at least."

"That is equally terrifying and respect worthy," Stark gaped, unblinking before flashing her a million dollar smile, winking at Allie, not making her as uncomfortable as it ought to have made her. "I won't keep you for much longer then. That doesn't mean we're going to abandon this little project!"

"Project? It's a _project_ now?" Allie scoffed.

"With the fact you keep failing _miserably_ , yes."

"Right, well," Allie said, ignoring the insult as she clapped her hands together, quickly wanting move away from a subject that showed her rather laughable skills at trying to breach Stark's security – she was quite happy with how she worked, even if it was the reason why she got caught. Maybe he did have a point in having her learn without relying on an accessory but not when she was nearly dying of starvation. "I'm going to get food before I die and then I'm going to do my work – my _actual_ work. I still have a lot more cupboards to clean out."

"My shredder offer is still open," he half sang and Allie quickly shook her head.

"I'd be afraid I might slip and it'd eat me," Allie shuddered, not wanting to imagine it in her head lest she wanted to give herself nightmares; Lisa had always called her a big scaredy-cat for being unable to handle any type of blood and gore, even in horror movies, but Allie didn't want to explain the smell of rust clinging to the inside of her nose, the metallic taste staining her tongue. She pushed all thoughts of blood and a shredder eating her away from the front of her mind, back into the dark corner where she banished almost everything.

"I'll try and make sure that won't happen – at least, not again," Stark said solemnly, shaking his head sadly and Allie stared wide eyed at him before realising it was simply a repeat of her own words earlier and she snorted.

"That is terrifying and respect worthy and I am leaving to get food," Allie announced, an echo of his own words back at him before making her way over to the elevator, straightening her bag and jacket on her so as to not having anything feeling ill-fitted or digging into her, the soft crooning of the music player echoing through the walls as she pressed the button to call the elevator, a moment of debate taking place before she turned back to face Stark, speaking to take his attention. Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"I've survived so far." His choice of words, for some reason, bothered Allie. She knew what it was to just survive, but she didn't want to dig too deep, didn't want to entangle herself more than she should.

"And I'm partly curious yet too frightened to ask how," Allie stated, the truth in her words as she had thought about it before, not hours ago due to the fact there was a startling lack of food in his cupboards but he waved her words and her concealed concern away once more, the elevator giving a small _ding_ behind her and the maw of the metal opened, Allie not looking as she stepped into it.

"Enjoy your lunch, Ms. Lawrence," he called out as the elevator doors closed in front of Allie, making the last thing she saw being Stark giving her a wave, a rather friendly yet tired smile on his mouth before all she could see was the sight of her warped reflection in the doors. A breath she didn't know she had been holding burst free and Allie sagged, resting against the cool metal of the walls of the elevator.

Despite how tired she felt, there was some relief there – relief that she knew that Stark was proving himself to be less and less like the asshole always described in the countless trashy exposés that had forced herself to read through to gain any grain of insight into his character. For all his teasing, all his comments, his aloofness, she had yet to see him act like a complete asshole.

Then again, maybe only time would tell.

And it was only until June.

And Allie could do until June.

She hoped.

If she didn't end up smacking Tony Stark over the back of the head, that is.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

* * *

 ** _Tabbycat1220: thank you so much! I'm so glad that you enjoy the story so far!_**

 ** _PrincessMagic: AJSODJAOI THANK YOU! I have to admit that this style of writing it is a bit different from what I'm used to and now I'm alternating between this writing style and the one I'm used to so at times it's weird for me. Thank you so much for reviewing and for loving Allie! she's such a dear and i love her sm! (i say as i plan out a world of pain for her) thanks again for showing this fic much desired love and support!_**

 ** _paulavara140: no problem dear! I hope you enjoy this chapter as you have the last few!_**

 ** _pinkeye: ahhhh thank you! i'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying the fic so far! i love my baby boy tony so much and by god if marvel won't let me love my boy, then i'll just have to CREATE someone to love him for me! really, though I might have it secret for now, Allie really does deserve some happiness in her life after everything. thank you so much for supporting the fic as always!_**

 ** _eden: thank you thank you thank you! it was important for me to get the dialogue down right and i find it so much easier to establish a chemistry when i write the dialogue first and then the description in between. i wanted to make them similar in some sense but not overly the same; they both have their own demons to fight and it's always nice to find comfort in someone else! these two kids are super sad and super lonely and super READY for everything together! thank you so so so much for reviewing once more and showing my little fic so much love!  
_**

 ** _PotatoeWriter54: ahhhh thank you loveen! i'm so glad i managed to get tony and allie's chemistry down and didn't make it seem forced or anything! it's such a breath of relief to know i managed to get it right because i'm always worried about the interaction between two characters, especially when only one is a canon character. i'm so glad that you're enjoying to story so far!  
_**

 ** _spacevoyage: thank you so much dear! i do hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well!_**

 ** _Usagia94: thank you! i hope that i managed to impress with this chapter and i hope i continue to do so!_**

* * *

 _ **just a quick notice that next week's chapter might be a little late, i'm not sure yet as my debs (or prom for non-irish people) is later this week and i don't know if i'll have the energy to have the next chapter up by next tuesday, but it will definitely be next week!**_

 _ **also once more this chapter is unedited! sorry!**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	8. Chapter Seven

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Seven._**

Allie didn't particularly mind having a routine in her life; routine was comfort, it was how she managed to function. For all her worries of spontaneity with working for Tony Stark, none of them had actually come to pass. While part of her remained disappointed that life wasn't turning out as excited and adventure filled as she hoped, the other half was largely glad that there was normalcy in her life rather than the fear of being dragged in to danger coming to pass.

For the most part, she found herself being dragged into a sense of security; every morning she would wake up just after the crack of dawn, make herself presentable, drink her tea and scarf down her breakfast, mindlessly scroll through her social media for a few minutes before she would finally find herself leaving the apartment, throwing a quick and hasty good-bye to Lisa over her shoulder as she went out the door that was quietly returned before she would begin her trek to work.

July had come and gone and now the frigidness of August was finding its way into her skin; her coats had become heavier and ankle boots were now a staple in her wardrobe as she was sure that rain was going to burst from the heavens at any given moment due to how puffed up and bloated the grey clouds appeared to be nowadays. Every morning, her feet would find themselves walking the path to her old workplace and she found herself almost missing it when she was engulfed in the warmth of it all; there, she would purchase herself a hot drink from a much warmer Francis, who seemed to growing more and more curious as to what her new job was and Allie would always leave him hanging.

Work was where that sense of security lulled; it never ceased to amaze Allie how Stark could always leave her surprised in even the most mundane of tasks. Her job didn't consist of much, save for answering calls, replying to e-mails and making sure to keep Stark free from any commitments that he had no interest in being a part of . At times he would disappear from the workshop and into that strange room, the one that Allie was dying to know what was hidden behind the high security door. She could probably guess it was where all his suits were, where he spent hours upon hours locked away with those extensions of himself, but guessing and thinking wasn't as fun as knowing.

Because of his lack of presence at times, Allie often found herself alone and counting the minutes down to lunch time where she could spend as much time on her phone as she could without feeling guilty for not putting effort into her work; of course, sometimes she could find gems and jewels of things that would spark her interest and capture her attention before it, inevitably, went into the bin because while it might had intrigued her, she could tell that Stark wouldn't feel the same. It was simple really, how it all worked; she kept him free from anything that wasn't to do with the Avengers or Sokovia, and in return he paid her an immense amount of money to sit there, bored out of her skull while going through his paperwork – the majority of which ended up in the bin even if Allie did find something that she felt needed his attention but would be something she knew that he would end up scrunching into a ball and throwing over his shoulder.

He had been quite specific in his instructions: only bother him when she comes across anything to do with the Avengers and/or Sokovia. It was that simple and she knew what he meant when it was something important. It was quite a simple, easy to understand rule.

So, Allie did what anyone bored out of their mind did.

She broke that rule.

"Mr. Stark?" Allie asked, footsteps light as she made her way into the room, watching him with a wrench in hand as he tightened the bolt to some contraption that Allie couldn't figure out for the life of her. For a moment, she stopped and stared, turning and tilting her head in all different directions before shaking her head and moving forward again, balancing the laptop that she held in her hands on one arm as she drew nearer to Stark's crouching form, his back towards her and unsurprised by her sudden appearance.

He still hadn't turned around by the time Allie paused her steps an arm's length away from him, the music he was playing much louder than she had anticipated but the volume being something she was becoming used to. While, once, Allie might have considered his lack of attention and failure to turn around to meet her as being rude, she quickly learned that it was just how he was and that she couldn't expect his undivided attention whenever she needed to run something by him. Plus. There was the fact she knew he had heard her because, being the only two people in the entire place, they were always aware of the other's presence.

"Yes?" he replied, still remaining crouched down, wrench in hand as Allie turned her eyes towards the screen of her laptop, a free hand reaching up to push the glasses that had slipped down the bridge of her nose back up to where they had previously sat; Allie had decided that the pain of not being able to see properly was greater than having her make up looking perfect throughout the day and she began wearing the spectacles more often throughout the day. Allie felt unsure, shifting her weight and she gave a quick cough to clear her throat.

"You know how you told me there were specific documents that you would like to look over?" Allie said, running her tongue over her lips as she tried to keep her voice loud enough for Stark to hear her words. It must have worked as he gave a snort, throwing the wrench down beside him and wiping his hands on his pants, stains and smears washing off of his palms and fingers and onto the material before he stood, his hair a straggly mess and face seeming pale, unwashed and streaked with grease and exhaustion; the purple bruises beneath his eyes were definitely due to the lack of sleep during the night, making Allie narrow her eyes but she pushed the concern aside as he cocked his head to the side, pulling up a corner of his mouth.

"I think," he began, voice light but there was a weariness to it and Allie couldn't help but wonder when was the last time he had a decent night's rest. He raised an eyebrow at her and rolled his shoulders, as if to lessen the tension that was buried deep there. "I said I wanted only to have documents about the Avengers referred to me but then you completely ignored that."

"Yeah, that," Allie nodded, correcting her glasses once more as she turned to the laptop once more, ignoring the dull ache arising in her muscles from holding it up for so long as she began to scroll through the miles upon miles of e-mails to pull up the one she had wanted. "So, you know how you said that?"

Stark looked at her, pausing in his actions and there was a gleam in his eyes, crinkles along his eyes more pronounced. "How I said what I just said?"

Allie blinked and gave another nod. "Yeah."

Stark gave a huff and copied Allie's nod, moving around her but careful not to brush up against her in case he might leave a smudge. "Yes, I do remember."

"Was it anything to do with the Avengers – I mean, _anything_ at all?" Allie further continued and it made Stark spin, looking at her and at the laptop in her arms, eyes narrowing as he continued to stare down at her as she rolled her weight to one leg, shifting the growing weight in her arms to ease the dull ache of it all.

"Why? Is there something?"

"Yes – maybe."

Stark raised an eyebrow, rolling his weight to one leg just as Allie had, arms winding across his chest as he prompted her to continue. "Well, which is it? Yes, or probably not?"

"Well," Allie began, ignoring the ache in her arms that began to grow more and more by the second. A sharp gust left her mouth, catching on a tickling strand of hair that was resting against her cheek as she tried to ignore the fact she was now looking at Stark over the rim of her glasses, the spectacles now lower from their previous position. "You see, it's both. It's to do with the Avengers."

"And?" Stark encouraged Allie, the latter gesturing to the laptop that was clutched in her hand.

" _And_ ," Allie stressed, blinking behind her glasses. "I wanted to see if you wanted to look over it."

Stark raised an eyebrow at her, glancing at the laptop before turning back at her, waiting for her to further explain. "Is it important?"

"I think so."

"There's a difference between thinking so, and knowing so," he said and suppressed the need to scoff, the weight of the laptop becoming too much for her arm to handle at an angle so she began to switch arms, moving the weight to ease the pain but before she could, Stark began reaching out, taking it from her so she wouldn't have to look like a fool holding it for much longer. Allie stretched her arm at her side, wiggling her fingers as Stark balanced the laptop much as she had, not bothering to stop himself from giving a scoff of his own as he turned to the screen.

"But thinking it's important makes me know, in my feelings, that it's important," Allie explained, making much more sense in her head than it had when she said the words aloud; Allie stood beside Stark, scrolling through the e-mails once more, trying to catch sight of the one she wanted as he held it out at an angle to make it easier for her to do so.

"Knowing is based on confirmation and facts," he tried to say as Allie worked, not bothered that her attention was divided, as if speaking more so to himself rather than to her but not particularly minding the fact that he had an audience. "Thinking is based on feelings."

Allie pulled her eye away from the screen and up at him, his words making her confused and he gave a shrug, as if it wasn't his problem that she didn't understand what nonsense he was spewing before she shook her head, looking back to her laptop before catching sight of the e-mail . "Technicality aside, here's the document."

Clicking on it, Allie brought it up, expanding it on the screen and stepping back, resuming the stretching of her arm as Stark pulled the laptop closer to him, eyes darting over the screen and the words, the crease between his brow deepening and deepening as he skimmed over the e-mail.

"Ms. Lawrence?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

He turned the laptop around to face her, not looking half annoyed as she thought he would be but there was a hint of exasperation in his tone, less amused and looking more the disapproving and tired boss. "What is this?"

Allie fixed her glasses on her nose, able to make out the words much better than he had before, half worried that she had made a mistake and ended up clicking on something that wasn't what she had to be, dreading that it was a completely different e-mail. Yet, as she looked, Allie saw that she hadn't made a mistake and it was what she had wanted to run by him and relief flooded through her as she met Stark's gaze once more, trying not to feel too confused by his reaction. "It's, uh, it's a document addressed to you about whether – "

"I can see what it's about," he interjected, using a hand to break her off mid-sentence, though it didn't annoy Allie as much as it should have because she knew that running things by him would either end in being shut down or being ushered away. "But what is this doing in my hand?"

"You said you wanted to look over any document about the Avengers and such," Allie reiterated, echoing his earlier words that he had told her back when she had decided to sit for their impromptu job interview.

"I think I was a bit more specific than that," he muttered, twisting the laptop back in his hands so that he could look to the screen, looking over it to stare at Allie with a look that made her feel like the stupidest person in the room – which was true no matter what since it was only the two of them regardless of the situation. "But what I meant was anything but this."

"Technically," Allie began, trying to explain herself, head tilting to the side as her hands wrung themselves in front of her stomach. "It _is_ with regards to the Avengers."

" _Technically_ , Ms. Lawrence," Stark parroted and Allie frowned as he took another glance towards the screen, as if he was once more trying to make sure what was before him the very same thing Allie felt was in dire need of his attention before he looked back at her. "It's a charity invitation to raise money for a children's hospital to replace the one destroyed during the attack on New York."

They stared at one another, waiting for the other to break first but Allie kept her spine straight, not yet backing down. "Yes, that's why I handed it to you."

"What I meant, Ms. Lawrence," he sighed, as if trying to sound incensed but not quite succeeding at it. Allie was half afraid to see him when he was truly angry. He gestured with his free hand towards the screen, pulling a face. "Was not things like _this_."

" _But_ you said documents referring to the Avengers – hence, _this_ ," Allie replied, mimicking his gestures right back at him and he gave a snort, holding the device out in front of him, indicating that he didn't want to look at it anymore and Allie stepped forward, taking it back in her grip once more as he dusted imaginary dust from his palms, brushing them together.

"Let's just put this aside. Tell them we can't make it and that we have to go fight some evil aliens or something," he said, seeming indifferent and stand-offish, Allie's annoyance spiking at his behaviour. She tried to not let it get to her but she couldn't stop herself from feeling aggravated by his actions. Maybe it was an act, maybe it was sincere, but in the end, no matter what, it bothered Allie to no end.

"You… you're not even going to think about going?" Allie queried, making Stark turn his attention back to her, a cough leaving her as she tried to find the right words to say, or any words that didn't come off as being rude. She knew he had his reasons, even if she didn't understand them, but that didn't mean she had to just roll with his seemingly uncaring attitude. She knew that he wasn't as cold and heartless as the media tried to paint him as. She knew about what he did during The Incident, how he helped retain peace in the Middle East, helping Sokovia by channelling money and resources into it's recovery. Allie knew, _knew_ that he was doing more than he appeared to be doing – but she still couldn't understand why he was acting the way he was. "I just meant, Mr. Stark, that it's an invitation to raise money for the destruction done to a children's hospital. Destruction done during The Incident."

There was a pregnant, tension filled pause as Allie finished, an implication hanging in the air, one that Allie hadn't meant and all trace of playfulness was leaving Stark's face as a worry began to brew in Allie's veins. "Is that _distaste_ I hear in your tone, Ms. Lawrence?"

"Not distaste, sir," Allie cleared up, shaking her head and swallowing roughly to soothe the dryness in her throat. With each passing second, Allie was wishing that she had kept her big, fat mouth shut rather than spewing the nonsense that was leaving her lips at that moment. "I think it's more confusion."

"And what, Ms. Lawrence is it that you're confused about?" he questioned, as if he was genuinely curious about what she was thinking, what she was trying to articulate but was failing to get across.

"As to why an influential public figure just as yourself would dislike using your influence to, well… _influence_ people."

"Nice wording," he laughed, tossing her a quick wink that didn't quite fit the situation and Allie didn't return it with a smile or anything, ignoring how she was feeling a bit irritated by how aloof he was being. "Liked how you used influence there."

"Mr. Stark, as your assistant, I believe it's my job to help you throughout your daily business as well as your personal tasks," Allie began, trying to tamp down on the annoyance in her veins, nearly bursting beneath her skin as she stared at Stark over the lip of the laptop, the glow of the screen casting an eerie glow over the darker room, shadows cast over her face. Stark met her gaze without defiance and it spurred her on, the moment rushing by too fast for Allie to catch a hold of. "I'm afraid that soon my job will consist of helping you clean down cars and making coffee and I don't think that there being a lack of hospitals that tend to children specifically will help any of us."

Allie's mouth snapped shut and she could feel the horror and mortification of what she had said dawn on her like a cruel reality, eyes bugging out from where they sat in her skull as her face began to burn, Stark's face remaining impassive and not taking on a look of anger as she expected, as she dreaded. The breath in Allie's lungs dried up, the crashing feeling of guilt hitting her so hard it left bruises in her bones, knotting her stomach as her voice died, as if it was too shocked by what she had said to resurface again. She found whatever courage she had wilt away to ash in her, crumbling beneath the stare of Stark as he remained silent, unmoved, unnerved by what Allie had spat out at him.

Her stomach was tying itself into knots – but she found it was not because of what she feared would happen, not because she thought he would fire her or anything of the sort; the tugging of her guts, the dryness of her throat, guilt eroding away at her, it was because she felt _horrible_ for what she said. The shock of the moment dripped away and left Allie feeling some sense of self-disgust for what she had said to him, of what she had implied beforehand – that it was _his_ fault that the hospital was damaged because it was done during The Incident.

Stark gave a sharp hum, pursing lips for a moment before he gave a ghost of a grin, not at all as warm as they used to be and clearly forced. Allie's mouth parted and the sharp blade of a breath cut through her, doing little to stop the guilt and shame of what she had said. "Sharp words, Ms. Lawrence."

"Mr. Stark, I'm – I'm so sorry. I meant no disrespect," Allie spluttered, trying to ignore the croak in her voice, the remorse that wavered her words. There was a coil around her throat and she tried to find the right thing to say, backing away as an undignified string of words forced themselves up her throat, out through her mouth. "Mr. Stark. I'm sorry – I'm so sorry, I overstepped my boundaries – "

"No, it's – it's fine, stay," he sighed, making a motion of his hand to draw her nearer and Allie couldn't help but comply. "Let me have a look at it once more."

"Here."

Allie once more put the laptop into Stark's clutch, the warmth of his hands burning into her cold ones before she stepped back, chewing on her lip while trying to ignore the shame and guilt that was eating away at her. She felt awkward, unsure of what to say or do as Stark read through the e-mail, lips pursed and eyes flickering back and forth on the screen before he clicked his tongue, a sharp _tsk_ sound leaving his mouth before he brought his stare to meet Allie's one, pulling her from her internal ass kicking. "Do you have any more information on it?"

"Yes," Allie said, trying to hide how dumbfounded and astounded she was at the fact he was actually interested in finding out more. Allie gave a small cough and racked her brain for what she remembered as Stark continued to read through the e-mail at a pace Allie wouldn't be able to keep up with, the words only half sinking in. "Fancy wording aside, it's mainly the selling of paintings that were damaged during The Incident and have been recovered. While they aren't of any historic or artistic importance, they are done by very well known artists who have donated what they can in hopes of raising sufficient funds."

"When is it?" Stark inquired, scrolling quickly through the e-mail without regards to who it was from or where it was being held.

"Three days from now, sir – the 14th of August," Allie clarified prompted by a quick throwaway glance from Stark as she stood closer to him, bumping arms while reaching a hand out and her index finger pointing out the most important information that was on the screen, ignoring the heat of his bicep that was starting to seep in through the material of her clothes, burning; she could smell the metallic tang rust and his cologne from him. "It starts around mid-morning – half one would be the time the first bidding takes place."

"And today is?" he asked, weary and wispy.

Allie stared at him, casting a look his way before stepping away to gain some space to breathe with trepidation rising as she watched him before answering. How long has he locked himself down here for? "It's Tuesday."

"Right. _Right_ ," he repeated, balancing the laptop on one arm briefly to run his hand over his face and up through his hair; Allie felt her lips purse into a straight line, taking notice of how the bright glow from the screen of the laptop highlighted his exhaustion, the smudges beneath his eyes a deep, dark violet that hung half way down his face, the smears of dirt and grease old and almost painted on. It was at times like these that Allie couldn't help but worry, wondering if he ever slept at night. There was a moment's pause of silence before Allie couldn't stand it anymore.

"Sir, are you okay?" Allie asked, concern burrowing itself into her as she stared at Stark, watching him as his eyes darted over the invitation, features pinched together as if he was deep in thought and that it was hurting him. She hadn't ever seen him so quiet and it was nearly worrying for her; Allie stepped closer, ignoring her glasses as the slipped down her nose, trying to get a better look at Stark and see if he was okay before he gave a hum of confirmation, indicating he was listening before a breathy sigh left him. It did little to brush the growing concern for his reaction away, making Allie think he was anything but okay.

"What, me? Of course. Just thinking about my best suit to wear, is all," Stark stated, eyes flitting across what was before him, stunning Allie to say the least.

"You're… you're going?" To say Allie was surprised wouldn't be the right word; Stark tore his eyes from the screen of the laptop, an eyebrow raised as if it was so obvious that that was what he was going to do.

"It's as you said, we can't have you cleaning cars," he smiled, but it didn't seem all that natural, like back in her apartment when they first met, the forced grin he gave at the sight of Allie in all her glory of damp clothes and soaked hair, not really the vision of what he had in mind of someone who managed to break through his security. He held the laptop out towards her, making Allie shake all thoughts of surprise and confusion from her mind. "Can't keep the children waiting either."

"Oh!" Allie exclaimed, taking the laptop from his hold, their hands brushing over one another during the passing over as Allie weighed it in her arms, watching Stark turn around before she snapped it shut, no having any need of it for much longer and making it easier to hold on to while her eyebrows knotted together above the rim of her glasses. "Yes, right."

"Make the calls and whatever," Stark said, giving a wave of a hand as he moved around Allie to stand before what he was working on before, taking up the wrench up off the ground, Allie's eyes stuck to him all the while as he did so. The quick turnaround in his decision was fast enough to make her feel as if she had whiplash, blinking but accepting of the sudden change of mind. He walked towards a spare tools bench, not meeting Allie's befuddled gaze as he continued to talk. "I don't think the rest of the team have the energy or temperament to put up with events such as these. I know I don't and I've been brought up to attend them."

"Yes, Mr. Stark," Allie answered, eyes locked onto his back that was faced towards her for a moment before she turned, wanting nothing more than to leave and sit at her desk so that she wouldn't have to stand this tension anymore – maybe it was only her that felt it, felt the awkwardness and uneasiness because of how unbothered he seemed by her behaviour and how he tried to brush her apology away.

Guilt ate at her and Allie couldn't banish it; she knew that her behaviour warranted an apology and nothing would change that, even if he seemed quite unbothered by what she said. She didn't want him to think she took him for granted, or that he was an aloof person who was unbothered by her sharp words. Allie stopped in her steps, chewing on the inside of her cheek as her heart suddenly became to big and tight for her chest, a heat rushing from beneath her collar and burning a path to settle beneath her cheeks, an unsteady and wavering breath entering her lungs before Allie turned.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yes, Ms. Lawrence?" Stark said, not turning to meet her and seeming lost in his own world, galaxies away in his thoughts and Allie coughed, not so much as to gain his attention but more so to get rit of the unsteadiness that was shaking her voice.

"I… I really am sorry about what I said," Allie croaked out, making Stark glance at her over his shoulder before facing her completely, a look that might have been surprise on his face. Allie fidgeted where she stood, a sharp breath sucked in through her nose as she found her voice, trying to make it steel and strong. Allie did not hesitate to meet his eye, but she found it hard to maintain the gaze because it felt as if he was picking her apart, seeing through her. "I shouldn't have said that. It was rude of me and – "

"Nonsense, you were only saying what you were feeling and I was the punching bag," Stark replied, trying to brush her apology off but Allie wouldn't have it; part of her, a part she didn't quite like, was wondering if he was used to this behaviour, used to people assuming the worst of him; the thought was something that didn't sit well with her and it made her feel worse. Allie didn't want to be one of those people, didn't want to be a rude person who treated others like shit but it happened anyway. It made her all more determined to get her apology across to the older man.

"Doesn't mean what I said I was right and I didn't intend to use you as a punching bag, sir," Allie insisted, a hint of desperation seeping into her voice as she spoke. To say she felt bad would be an understatement. "I don't mean to overstep my boundaries."

"It's alright, Ms. Lawrence," Stark said with a shrug but it did little to make Allie feel better. "I guess every man needs a wakeup call."

"I think he could do without one that is next to verbal assault," Allie breathed, keeping the closed laptop tight to her, ignoring the dead weight of it as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, glued in place as they stared at one another, unsure of what to do and waiting for the other to say something. Was she no better than those who dragged his name in the press? Allie didn't presume to know Tony Stark, the _real_ Tony Stark – not the man she worked for and traded playful barbs with. She had been rude, to say the least, and her behaviour was eroding her insides, making the tangles in her stomach tighten.

She shifted beneath his stare but maintained it, forced herself to not appear overly cowardly as her teeth grasped her bottom lip, fiddling with the device entrapped in her arms before his face seemed to soften and he gave a gentle smile, the breath that had been gathering in Allie's chest rushing free in an instance. "Well, apology accepted, Ms. Lawrence. You can rest easy now."

"Thank you, sir," Allie said, feeling awkward and ashamed still by her words. The mortification at what she had said was dripping away, leaving behind only the guilt that was stewing in the pits of her stomach, knotting her guts and bringing a wave of self-annoyance for what she had said. Allie hadn't meant to say them, of course she hadn't, but the problem was that she _did_ say them and there was nothing she could do to reel them back in. Her cheeks burned and her mouth felt dry, a tightness in her tummy as she turned to go, the laptop still firmly in her grip from Stark handing it to her earlier. Even if she had apologised and even if he had forgiven her, Allie couldn't ignore the guilt that ate away at her; even if she had been used to talking back to Francis, it was never like what she had said to Stark.

All in all, it made her feel like shit and, in Allie's mind, she deserved to feel bad for treating him like that. Hadn't he been nice to her all along? Hadn't he given her a job she was most definitely unqualified for? A job that paid her enormous amounts of money, at that. Allie dragged her feet as she walked away, head ducked down as she wished to leave the place so she could crawl into bed and berate herself.

"It wouldn't do for us to have any animosity between us if we're to attend this damned art show thing on Friday," Stark called after her, picking up on the light hearted tone once more. _That_ had made Allie pause as she turned back around to face Stark, confused and befuddled as she once more met his gaze again, finding herself not burning with as much shame as she had before due to his forgiveness that Allie felt was she had not yet deserved, especially since she had not been at the job for long.

"I'm sorry, did you say _we_?" Allie repeated and Stark shook his head in agreement, giving a small hum.

"You are my assistant, are you not?" Stark said, stressing his words and Allie gave an unsure nod of the head, not knowing where he was going with this. Her glasses had fallen down her nose slightly and she couldn't completely make out the look on his face but there was a mischievous tone in his voice, a blurry look of boyish playfulness in his features that she could just about make out. "And isn't the job of an assistant to help me throughout my daily business and personal tasks?"

Allie blinked at his words and her mouth parted, looking at Stark over the rim of her glasses before she pushed them back up on her nose, able to completely make out his face and the teasing look that was ingrained there, a soft smile that wasn't tight or forced and the crinkles deep around his brown eyes, a half dimple in his left cheek. She couldn't stop her own lips curving and Allie gave a small, friendly role of her eyes at Stark for him throwing her own words right back at him. She felt not so burdened by the guilt of her earlier words and felt more relaxed at the fact he was ready to move on past what she said, even if Allie wasn't. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Great," he grinned and his lightness in mood eased Allie, made the guilt subside but not disappear completely. While he might have said he forgave her for the completely out of turn chastising, Allie couldn't help but find herself dipping her toes in the shame of acting so harshly towards him. Her annoyance towards Stark's reclusiveness had dissipated and she was left with nothing but the bones of regret for her words; Allie just knew she would be kicking herself in the ass for the next coming week, no matter if he tried convincing her all was forgiven. "I hope you can stomach the obnoxiousness that comes with events like these because God knows I can't."

"Yes, Mr. Stark. Of course, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed, but she found herself not really minding all that much.

* * *

"For someone who has never done paper work before in her life," Lisa began, sitting beside Allie at the kitchen table while nursing a hot drink between her hands, eyeing the pile of work that her friend was working through with half her attention on the T.V that was playing in the background over Allie's shoulder. "You've gotten through a lot of paperwork in such a short span."

"That's because I have two easy steps," Allie revealed, looking over the rim of her glasses briefly at a page before sorting it into the 'No Good' pile – which seemed to be the biggest pile, the other two around her being the 'Maybe Good' pile and 'Check If Good' pile, the former being significantly smaller than the first one listed and the latter consisting of one single page. Her laptop was sitting on the bottom of her bed, turned off and healing from a day's work and her eyes hurt from staring at the screen for so long throughout the day.

"Oh?"

"First, I read the first line of the document," Allie explained, holding up a page for Lisa to see as a demonstration before she put it in the 'No Good' pile after a second's glance. "Then, I throw it away."

Lisa nodded, seemingly impressed by Allie's worth ethnic. "You're right, that _does_ sound easy."

"I actually think I'm getting the hand of it," Allie agreed, continuing on with her work as she listened to the daily hustle and bustle of life outside the building, the cars honking, the gentle murmur of voices that rose like tidal waves over the buildings. It was getting late in the evening and the place was becoming quieter, her neighbours and, indeed, herself becoming worn down by the day and wanting nothing more to sleep but having to wait because it was too early in the day for it. "You know, today I spoke with Mr. Stark about attending a charity event."

"That's so weird."

Allie paused her work, looking up at Lisa with a very confused and somewhat concerned look knitted on her face as she stared at her friend, waiting until Lisa's green eyes met her own blue ones before she continued, hoping for Lisa to further explain what she meant. "Attending a charity event to raise funds for a kids' hospital?"

"No, the fact you call him Mr. Stark outside of work," Lisa furthered explained but it didn't little to make Allie less befuddled, a few nonsensical sounds leaving her as she tried to make sense of what her friend had said – or understand why what she had said (calling her employer by his name) was weird.

"But…" Allie began, brows furrowing together in confusion as she blinked, looking at Lisa as if she had spouted something truly strange and irrational. "That's his _name_."

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't born as Mr. Stark. You never used to call Francis Mr. Kelly."

"That's different," Allie tried to explain, shaking her head and pulling away from Lisa as she made herself focus back on her work again, noticing how she was all too easily snared up in a conversation with Lisa and that she could spend hours there speaking with her friend without doing a single jot of work; the attempt failed miserably as Lisa gave a snort, not believing Allie's words or her defence while no longer trying to watch whatever was playing on the T.V in the background.

"How so?"

Allie sighed, taking her glasses from where they sat on her face and placing them beside her, brushing back the fallen wisps of her hair behind her ear, hooking them in place and accepting the reality that she might not be able to finish her work for the night, but it didn't bother her that much. She could always just shove it in the trash – as Stark instructed her to do – and save herself a headache, but she didn't want to risk throwing away anything that might have been considered important. "Because Francis isn't – "

"Old?" Lisa offered, making Allie stare at her dead pan.

"That wasn't what I was going to say," Allie defended hastily while Lisa gave a small and short whistle.

"I guess you have a point, he is pretty old," Lisa mumbled, taking a sip from her drink and smacking her lips, words being mumbling into the mug in the pretence that she had hoped that Allie wouldn't hear them.

"Weren't you the one saying that he's _only_ forty-five?" Allie countered, arms linked on the table and eyebrows raised as if she had caught Lisa out. Part of her was wondering how this even became a topic of conversation, and how quickly their roles were reversed. Wasn't Allie the one who used to state just how _old_ she used to think Stark was? All of it was done in jest, sure, but it felt different this time with Lisa assuming the old role Allie used to don. "As in, he's _only_ twenty years older than me?"

"He could be your dad, Al," Lisa stated, giving Allie a pointed look as she placed her drink back down onto the top of the table with a sharp yet soft _clink_ as she mimicked Allie's raised brow, though managing to pull it off just that bit better, to Allie's dismay. "That's kind of weird."

"Having kids at the age of twenty isn't all that common nowadays," Allie told Lisa, shaking her head but Lisa gave a laugh instead of remaining quiet.

"Back in his days, they were," Lisa chuckled and Allie couldn't stop the grin on her face as she turned away, giving a snort in response to her friend's barbs.

"You're mean," Allie said, reaching across to give her a friend a soft smack on the arm, head shaking as she did so but Lisa was unbothered by it, giving a shrug of her shoulders to maintain an appearance of aloofness.

"I'm just saying," Lisa reiterated, turning the ceramic cup on the spot with her finger pads before turning back to Allie, a smirk on her face and a gleam in her eyes that caught on the light of kitchen, making the green appear that bit deadlier, that bit sharper. "You were right saying it was different with Francis because he was only, what, five or six years older?"

Allie paused before she spoke, pondering on it for a few moments before relenting to Lisa's statement. "I guess so, yeah."

"And because of that that one time you guys went on a date," Lisa reminded and Allie's reaction as instantaneous, nose crinkling up as the memory resurfaced once more after being buried in the back of her mind for so long, an indignant cry leaving her at being forced to remember that moment in time four years back that neither party had wanted to remember and never addressed during their time working together.

"Please, I don't want to remember that," Allie shuddered, quickly shuttering all memories of the date from years back when she had first started working there. It wasn't as bad as she was remembering it to be but it had been a one time thing with no follow up. "It was awkward and I only said yes because I didn't want him to think I was a loser."

"And," Lisa began, leaning in close with a mischievous smile on her lips. "Because he's cute."

"And because he's cute," Allie agreed quietly, knowing that she would never have admitted to it when she used to work for the man in case Lisa might have felt it to be her job to tell Francis that Allie thought him to be attractive.

"Just saying that maybe you shouldn't make a habit of dating your bosses," Lisa hummed, teasing but there was a sharpness to her tone that showed a seriousness she was trying to hide. Allie frowned at her friend's words, trying to not feel slighted due to Lisa suggesting Allie was the type of person to just up and date her boss. Allie gave a huff and turned away from Lisa, stopping herself from rolling her eyes.

"Okay, first: Francis wasn't my boss at the time. And second: that's _gross_ ," Allie said, nose scrunching up. She was more offended at the fact Lisa was trying to make a point of the fact Allie dated her employers, rather than the fact she was trying to suggest her and Tony Stark were dating secretly. It wasn't _gross_ as Allie put it, per say, but she couldn't find the right word to match what she was feeling; uncomfortable? Annoyed? Uncertain?

"You're such a kid," Lisa snorted, stretching to take a hold of Allie's cheeks between her thumb and index finger and pinching the skin, grinning and cooing all the while she did so and Allie tugged herself free from her friend's grip, ignoring the sting of it as pink flooded her cheeks.

"Then don't keep talking about me dating my boss if I am a kid," Allie frowned, trying to ignore how uneasy it all left her, the implication of Lisa's words not sitting right with her; Stark was her _boss_ and she was his _employee_ and that was all kinds of inappropriate, no matter how handsome he was.

"What can I say, you bring out the mother hen in me," Lisa joked, clapping a hand over her heart momentarily before she reached over to place her hand atop of Allie's shoulder, a dire and serious look on her face that seemed so out of place with her playful tone. "If he anything says or does anything to you, kiddo, tell me and I'll give him the ol' one-two."

"Thank you, mammy," Allie laughed, a forced sound leaving her lips but she felt strange, almost uneasy due to Lisa's words – though Allie couldn't figure out if it was because of what Lisa had implied, or simply because of how casually her friend had said them.

Allie wasn't stupid, and she didn't see Stark in that sense, the one Lisa was trying to suggest that was there. There was the fact that he was not only her boss, but also the fact he was twenty years older than her; while it might not have been a problem for her (not that she was trying to say that she would date him, regardless of age) but he was a public figure and that kind of stuff wouldn't go down well, especially with the expansion of social media. Allie shook her head and put her focus back down to her work, freeing herself from the snares of those kind of thoughts. Even if Lisa was implying that Allie would date her boss, there was no saying he would do the same because of how much older he was than her. Such an age gap might leave people recoiling or reeling with disgust, and outside pressure was often the reason so many relationships broke up; a silent growl left Allie, fidgeting in her seat as she gave a huff, trying to ignore the mumbling of the T.V in the background to focus on her work, ignoring the ache in her eyes.

"What were you saying about this charity event?" Lisa asked, changing the subject as an awkward tension settled over the two from Lisa's previous insinuations. Allie jumped at the changed and cleared her throat before speaking.

"Well, normally he tells me to just donate the money instead of attending," Allie explained, a raspberry leaving her as she slumped back into her chair, hands resting palm facing upwards on top of the table as she ignored the burn in her throat left behind from the words she said before. "But I may have slightly gotten annoyed at him today when he said he didn't want to go."

"And?" Lisa pushed and Allie shifted in her chair, trying to ignore the old burn of guilt and the flames that licked at her insides, at her bones.

"And," Allie sighed, exasperated more at herself and what she had said, that at Lisa probing. "Now he's going."

"Wow," Lisa whistled, low and surprised. "What did you say?"

"Some not really nice things," Allie revealed, not wanting to remember her own words. They weren't the most terrible things a person could say but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad; she had all but insulted him and his decision to remain out of the public eye, bringing up the fact that the Avengers had caused so much damage during The Incident and she had even insinuated that it was _his_ fault. Allie knew it was, she had seen the videos, had watched a hundred and one variations of Tony Stark making a seemingly one way trip through that damned Wormhole with a missile on his back. He had saved eighteen million people and he was condemned for it; was she really any better than any of those people? Maybe there was a reason he didn't like putting himself out into the public, maybe that reason was because they half hailed him as a hero, and half condemned him as a terrorist.

Allie dropped her head, feeling that wave of annoyance towards herself rearing its ugly head as her hands curled in slightly, fingernails nipping at her palm. "I felt like an asshole for hours afterwards and I still do. I apologised but I felt like a complete gobshite."

"Cute," Lisa teased and Allie rolled her eyes but felt a burn in her cheeks, blotches of red on her cheeks as her hands unfurled, the indentions in her palm appearing like half moons waxing and waning.

"Shut up," Allie murmured, voice low and mumbling, making Allie unsure if Lisa had actually heard her but a small wink from her friend confirmed that she had caught onto Allie's words. Lisa gave a sigh, twisting her mug in her hand as she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"Hey, at least it worked and he's not going to act like a recluse," Lisa shrugged, chugging down the last few, cold remnants of her drink, face scrunching up at the lukewarm drink as it washed down her throat. "Maybe a little tough love is all he needs."

"Tough love shouldn't be a thing," Allie stated, catching herself zoning out before she caught up with herself, turning to Lisa with a sincere confused face. "Why be mean to someone if you love them?"

"Who knows, but at least it worked," Lisa reaffirmed and Allie couldn't help herself agreeing. For all she knew, had she abided by Stark's rules, he would have happily spent the rest of his days locking himself away; it could have been weeks and months before he began to put himself in the publics eye once more, no longer relishing in the attention that was given to him as being Tony Stark, as being Iron Man. "Now he's actually going outside where _people_ are."

Allie screwed up her face. "I'm people."

"I mean _real_ people."

"I'm real people," Allie insisted, clicking her tongue as her elbow sat on the table, hand going to cradle her cheek as she picked at the flecks and knots trapped beneath the laminated wood of the table top. "And he's dragging me with him."

"Really?" Lisa questioned, genuinely surprised and seemingly stunned at Allie's revelation and Allie gave a half hearted nod, as if to let on that she was more bothered than she actually was at the prospect of having to join Stark on his day out.

"Yeah, I think it's payback for being like an ass to him," Allie sighed, leaning back into her chair and reaching up to press the pads of her fingers against her temples, a dull pain picking away at her skull as her eyes squeezed shut, stars bursting and dying in her vision while she tried to compromise with her rumbling stomach to just hold on tight for the next half an hour before she would let herself eat something. A groan left Allie as she sagged, meeting Lisa's eyes with a dreaded look on her face. "I'll probably end up falling face first into a plate of hors d'oeuvres with my luck."

"Right," Lisa said, dragging the word out and taking on a condescending tone that made Allie bristle, making her feel as if she was stupid for not seeing something.

"What?" Allie asked, trying to pick apart the strange expression on Lisa's face before the other woman tore her eyes away from Allie's own, shaking her head and giving a half shrug to brush away Allie's question but it only made Allie more suspicious

"Nothing, nothing," Lisa half sang but there was something in her voice, a pitch that made Allie feel like she was missing something that Lisa could see as the other woman began to drum her fingers on the table top, a steady and uniformed rhythm. "You going to go all fancy?"

"Oh God! What am I going to wear?! I have nothing!" Allie exclaimed, all but throwing herself onto the table, arms going to cushion her head as she wallowed in despair at the fact she had nothing fancy or presentable for attending an art show – with Tony Stark of all people. Allie cursed herself for being someone who picked comfort over aesthetic quality as a snort pulled her attention from such simple thoughts, sitting up as she caught sight of Lisa's face, her friend's eyes narrowed but a quirk in the corner of her lips, making Allie sharpen her gaze into tiny pinpricks, untrusting of whatever was running through Lisa's mind. "You're looking at me weird."

"I am not," Lisa insisted but her words did little to make Allie believe her due to the fact there was a tight smile around her friend's lips and she maintained that same look on her face.

"You are so!" Allie pouted but Lisa shook her head, the wisps of her tied back hair moving as she did so.

"Go finish your work," Lisa laughed but it seemed somewhat forced, the other woman standing to her feet and ignoring the screech of the legs of the chair against the ground, making Allie wince at the sound. "I'm going to watch a rerun of _Friends_."

Ignoring her mind telling her to join Lisa, Allie turned back to her work with a huff, exhaling deeply as she reached over to place her glasses back on the bridge of her nose again. It was late in the evening now, the palette of oranges, pink and red fading away to hues of cold blues and purples that seeped in through the window.

While part of Allie still felt remorse at what she had said to Stark earlier, it wasn't eating away at her as it did before. She had apologised and he had forgiven her – at least, she hoped her did. If not, she could always find a way to make it up to him, maybe by actually abiding by the rules and not bothering him anymore with anymore public appearances, though the thought of actually attending one with him didn't bother Allie as much as she thought it would; maybe it was the guilt of what she had said earlier, or maybe it was because she knew it was her job and that she would have to suck it up and stop being a Debbie Downer over the little things anymore. She supposed it would do both of them some good, more so him than anything.

Besides, now she had more important things to worry about; like what in God's name was she going to wear for this Friday?

A groan left Allie and she couldn't stop herself from placing her forehead on the cool table top; for every problem she sorted through, there always seemed to be another lingering in the corner of her mind.

Yet, a part of her, a small speck that could only grow, one that Allie didn't really want to acknowledge, was _excited_ – excited for Friday, excited for what could happen and excited for the unknown, of where it might lead her.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

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 _ **eden: ahhh thank you so much! i definitely wanted these guys to be friends and while it may have been a rocky beginning, things are only going to get better! the two of them are so used to being alone (or rather having very few close friends) so lumping them together will definitely help them both to say the least. by helping tony, allie is helping herself and vice versa; the two of them are similar in some respects but are vastly different in other areas and that's reason they compliment each other! or at least i hope they do. thank you so much for reading and reviewing and i hope you enjoy this chapter and future ones!**_

 _ **Rindo Seiren: thank you so much! im so glad people are enjoying allie because she is not meant to be a perfect person by any means! she never got to see tony for who he is like much of the general public and because of that she never really thought of him in the good way like many people but! this chapter and others before show that she's changing her mind and thinking "whoa he's a good dude maybe im a bad person for being like those people who think badly of him because he's made a few mistakes like every other human being on the planet." allie is over coming her prejudice towards tony and now that she's warming up to him it's all over for all those in universe tony stark antis ((that just might be a hint for the next chapter)). tony stark is earth's best defender, but allie is going to be tony stark's best defender.**_

 _ **imlovinfanfic: thank you! i cant tell you how happy it made me to see all your thoughts on my story so far and to know that you're enjoying the fic! allie is definitely a Debbie Downer and if only i could tell you why! but soon, soon all will be revealed ((when i say soon i probably mean like 30 chapters or more from now on))**_

 _ **pinkeye: thank you for the support! i was thinking back on all the times i had work and homework when i was at school while i was writing this chapter and boy am i glad to not be in allie's shoes anymore. now im free from all work for the next year or so and i'm going to make the most of it! thank you so much for reading and reviewing and supporting this fic!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you! i love writing the two of them bonding as much as you guys love reading it! truth be told i have a LOT more planned out for the two of them for the next 10 chapters or so and oh my god if it gave me cavities writing the chapter outlines, i can't imagine how much pain you guys will be in! thanks you so much for reviewing and supporting this fic! it means a lot to me!**_

 ** _spacevoyage: thank you! i do enjoy writing tony's character but for some reason whenever i picture him in my head all i can imagine is RDJ's sherlock holmes. i do have future chapters planned out with the majority being tony's pov so i hope to continue to do him justice! thank you so much for all your love and support!_**

 ** _Chancellor S: oh my goodness thank you! i think what prompted me to write this story is because of how little Tony and OC fics there were that were to my taste. I guess it's true what they say: if you want to read a certain fic, you're going to have to write it yourself. thank you so much for reading and supporting my fic!_**

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 ** _i'm sure you guys can tell this is unedited - i'm so sorry! i'll go back over these past few chapters and try to correct all these typos and mistakes._**

 ** _also, i started typing out chapter outlines for the next 10 chapters to help myself with a guideline and i can tell you that a LOT is coming all your way. like wow i can barely survive writing this, i can't imagine reading this and not knowing what's going to happen._**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	9. Chapter Eight

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

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 ** _Chapter Eight._**

To mark the event, Allie was wearing a heels and she felt never had a more grave error been made before. Not that she couldn't walk in them, she wasn't totally incompetent, but the idea of standing around all day in them… it wasn't inviting.

The car was beginning to grow stuffy and the traffic outside barely made it through the car, dulled and muffled and separate from this small world of Allie, her phone and Stark, the crooning of the stereo filling the silence as they drifted off into their own thoughts; she had felt awkward in the silence at first, unsure if she should say something or strike up a conversation but the anxiety fuelled part of her brain forbade her, warning her of potentially making everything even more awkward. Allie knew it was all in her head as Stark didn't seem all too bothered at the lack of talk between the two, leaning against the side of the car, elbow propped up against the handle of the door with fingers pressed to his mouth, knee bouncing and giving way whatever outward appearance of coolness he attempted to adopt.

Just as Allie had made more of an effort with her appearance, he had too; when they had met at the Compound, she stopped herself from blinking more than once at the sight of him cleaned up, hair shorter and beard shaped, cropped close and his mop of curls tamed and no longer a mess around him. The suit he wore was spotless, pressed and smoothed with no creases; he looked little less like a dirtied, boyish mechanic and more like the business man she was used to seeing splashed on the front of magazines and tabloids. Allie didn't think Tony Stark could actually scrub up well (he was handsome already as it was) but she felt that, without all the grease and oil and ratty shirts worn down due to years of wear and tear, he definitely looked better. Despite the more put together appearance, Allie knew that, beneath the glasses he wore, there would be purple and violet smudges, splashes of indigo hanging beneath his eyes.

Allie unwrapped a hand that clutched her phone and tentatively reached up to touch the ends of her hair, freshly washed before being subject to a curling iron. The back of her neck felt warm and her fringe was hooked firmly behind her ear out of habit but Allie had made sure to not bring a hair for she knew if she had, the tresses would be wrapped up and away from her face – and she wasn't about to hide forty-five minutes of hard work that resulted in an aching arm from the angle she had to hold it at. Allie opted for black as a safe colour theme for her outfit, the plain outfit consisting of a black pencil skirt, a white button up shirt and a black blazer. The heels weren't so high that she felt she would need help getting out of the car or up a set of stairs, but if she had to spend hours in them, she was pretty sure she might end up planting into a plate of cheese to ease the pain of her feet.

Allie was immensely relieved that Stark had decided to use a driver to bring the both of them to the location rather than the two arriving separately as Allie had worried about it immensely to a startling degree; she didn't want to show up and stand outside waiting for him in the cold for God knows how long and then end up being removed from the premises just as he arrived. Maybe he would have done that, just to screw with her.

Allie flickered a narrowed gaze at said man at the thought passed through her mind but he paid no heed to Allie or her actions; his focus seemed intent on what was ever outside the tinted windows of the car, hidden beneath the glasses that threw the reflection of the passing city back out.

The silence, which had made her nervous, was now a comforting thing; at least then they could both save their energy for chatting and mingling with the crowd, though more so him than her. Her eyes fell to his bouncing knee, the light tapping of the back of his shoe hitting the carpeted floor of the car as it jittered, unable to contain whatever nervousness Stark was trying to contain; maybe he was nervous in front of crowds, or just disliked being near them. If either, Allie was sympathetic as she knew what it felt like to be in either situation; the memory of her panic attacks came to the forefront of her mind before Allie promptly squashed them down, not wanting to be plagued with the unpleasant reminders of her youth. It had been over two years since her last one, an unexpectant one that had taken a hold of her, and she wanted to break the record by shooting for three years without a suffering from one.

"We're here," Stark announced just as the car began to rumble to a slow pace, tires crunching and biting on the tarmac beneath, pulling Allie from her thoughts and blinking herself back into reality, realising that she had not yet torn her eyes away from Stark from her before thrown narrowed glance. Her gaze flickered down to her phone, locking the screen and placing it in the barely big enough pocket of her blazer as Stark took the glasses from his face, hooking them in place at the hem of the breast pocket on his jacket. Allie's previous assumption had been correct and it looked like Stark had little sleep during the night. Had she known, she would have made the suggestion of cancelling but had a feeling that he wouldn't have accepted. "Great."

His voice carried no joking tone and Allie couldn't help but passing him a worried glance from where she sat on the other side of the seat, opposite ends with an arms space between them; Allie was regretting not making the suggestion of cancelling at last minute as his face seemed to be dragged down with uninterest and something akin to apprehension. Unsure of what to say, Allie instead opted to latch her bottom lip firmly between her teeth, not really caring if she was smudging the mauve lipstick she was wearing atop of it.

Stark took a deep breath, as if psyching himself up, before unbuckled the seatbelt, letting it slither back into its holding place while reaching for the handle before a thought popped in Allie's head, hand quickly crossing the distance between them and touched his bicep lightly to gain his attention.

"Wait," she said, interrupting his movement and Stark turned back to her, not yet letting go of his grip on the car door handle but leaning back into the leather seat as Allie unbuckled her own seatbelt so as to not inhibit her movement as she once more dug out her phone, unlocking her phone to pull up her note pad, the glow of the screen the brightest thing compared to the weak sunlight that barely managed to filter through the tinted windows. "Maybe we should go over some things."

"What's there to go over?" he sighed but his hand fell from the handle and he shifted in his seat, sitting straighter and relaxing slightly as Allie cast him a glance through the corner of her eye. "I show my face, crack some witty one-liner's and dole out the cash if need be. That's basically it, right?"

He ended the sentence with a cocked eyebrow and Allie turned herself fully away from the screen of her phone, turning her body so as to face him more and give him all of her focus as she weighed his words in her mind, before giving a nod in agreement and pocketing her phone once more, slipping it back into her pocket and praying it wouldn't slip out and crack on the ground beneath. "Well… if you want to break it down like that."

"I've grown up used to these types of things," Stark revealed, giving a wave of his hand along with the words as he once more propped his elbow up on the ledge on the car door, cheek resting against his closed hand. "It's nothing that I can't handle."

Allie almost wanted to refute his words, taking in his jittering leg, the unease in his words and how exhausted he look – while others might not see it, she could see how bogged down he was, the endless nights of not sleeping taking their toll on him. Once more, Allie felt guilt at dragging him to this damned thing, despite her good intentions. Maybe she had asked too much of him and he only played along so as to stop her badgering him and annoying him. Allie gave a hum at his words, turning her gaze outwards to the world awaiting them from outside of the car and the size of the crowd and the amount of people lingering about genuinely surprised her; her past theory of Stark feeling an edginess in front of crowds came to the front of her mind again and she felt that concern once more.

Her own palms felt somewhat slick, a flush running through her as her heart picked up in her chest, thoughts of embarrassment, of humiliation running through her mind. Allie could barely eat her breakfast that morning at the looming threat of doing something mortifying was searing itself into her brain, all possible scenarios her brain managed to concoct making her stomach tie itself into knots and tangles. Her discomfort must have found itself onto her features for when she pulled herself back from the window and her thoughts, Stark was staring at her with something she might have thought to be nearly _concern_ in his eyes.

"Is it something _you_ can handle?" he asked and Allie swallowed, trying to not make a show as she subtly shifted in her seat, going to fix the skirt that sat just above her knee so that she could wipe the inside of her hands.

"Uh, pardon?" Allie all but squeaked and suppressed a wince. She knew she could handle come what may, but that still didn't mean her brain knew that too. It was an irrational fear, one that she would have to master if she wanted to stick by Stark's side throughout the ten months. Stark gave a half hearted shrug, taking his hand from his cheek and lacing his fingers together, one hand dangling awkwardly from where his elbow was resting.

"There's gonna be a lot of people there," he told her, clicking his tongue as if the thought was equally as unsatisfactory for him as it was for her, maybe even more so. Then, after letting out a huff, his lips finally took on the first smile that didn't appear forced Allie had seen that morning, or rather a ghost of one. "And with great crowds, there's always going to be an asshole or two."

A breathy laugh left Allie, letting her shoulders drop and easing the tension in them as she relaxed into her seat, glad at the attempt of humour he made as it did lift some of her worry, even if only a small bit. "I'm pretty sure I can handle myself."

"Oh, there's no doubt about that," Stark quickly agreed, making another laugh leave Allie, the older man turning himself to mimic Allie's position so as to divert more of his attention to her. Allie wasn't quite sure if they were stalling, consciously or unconsciously, but she didn't find herself minding all that much. Plus, they weren't totally late and they had a while to kill before the first bidding would even take place. "Quite frankly, I'm both frightened and intrigued to see you mingle with all these asshats."

"Elegant word choice," Allie snorted, feeling all the more comfortable and less wound up at the prospect of what awaited her for the day ahead. Stark gave her a wink, the crinkles along his eyes more pronounced as his grin grew wider, more natural. It distracted her from the lingering bruises of fatigue that lay beneath his eyes, though not by much.

"I am an unrecognised poet of my time," he stated, letting a heartfelt sigh hang on the end of huis words and Allie gave a sympathetic nod.

"Maybe next time we can go to a slam poetry festival and you can show off your talent."

"I wouldn't want to upstage all those poor, reckless college students," he rebutted and Allie gave a snort.

"I don't think we'd have to worry about that," was her reply and he cast her a look of fake hurt but ceased to give a comment back, instead electing to turn his focus back to the people milling outside the car, as if hesitant to leave the small, safe bubble they were in. The engine of the car continued to hum and purr as the driver – some greying man Allie had never met – waited for them to exit patiently. Allie wasn't sure if she should be the one to move out first, nearly making that decision before, instead, deciding to let him make the first move, allowing him time to sort through whatever was running through his head.

Allie turned her gaze outwards through her own window that face the street, catching sight of the traffic that seemed to jam the city, engines coughing along the late morning rush as it was early hours still.

"Ugh, great."

His words tore Allie's attention back to him but Stark had his eyes firmly locked outside, face scrunching into one of disgust and distaste. Allie's eyebrows locked together in puzzlement at his words and reaction. "What?"

"See her?" Stark said as he motioned for her to slide closer, placing a finger on the window as he scooted closer into the side of the car to give Allie room. Hesitant, Allie moved slowly across the leather seat and tried to peer outside the window but, at the angle she was at as well as the fact she was without her glasses, made it hard to see the object of Stark's disgust.

Leaning forward, Allie moved in closer so that she and Stark were bumping hips, legs brushing up against one another as she tried to spot what he was looking at, eyes squinting until she could just about pick out his Waldo, his finger pointed at her attire from the angle Allie was sitting at as she sat back, widening her eyes to ease the twinge in them at straining her vision to see better, looking to Stark and feeling somewhat entertained at how he seemed to be mumbling unknown curses beneath his breath. "The old woman in the bright green velvet coat?"

"She's an old witch," he hissed, jabbing his finger at the glass once more as if to make his point, or perhaps wishing that it was the old woman in place of the window instead. "Quite surprised she hasn't dropped dead with how old she is."

A spout of laughter left Allie suddenly and she reached up to clap a hand over her lips, unsure if she should be horrified at his words or at the fact she actually laughed at him. " _Mr. Stark_!"

"She probably kills dalmatians for her terrible coats," he joked and Allie shook her head at his insults, releasing her hand from its lock on her lips.

"Don't put the image of puppies dying in my head," Allie groaned, not quite wanting her morning ruined with such thoughts. Stark gave the glass one more anger filled jab before sitting back in his seat, glare following the old woman as she made her way inside as if to burn holes through the quite frankly God awful coat she had on her back. Allie didn't even have her glasses but even she could see from this distance that someone would either have to be awfully confident or have an awful fashion sense. Stark gave a grunt as the woman disappeared into the building but kept his eyes trained on the doors.

"Well, if you see her coming – and with her awful fashion sense, you most likely will – make sure to point her in a different direction from me," he instructed and his voice seemed sharp, bitterness sizzling through his words and dripping from his tongue, making Allie tilt her head at the tone, unused to hearing him sound quite so cold and – dare she say – ruthless. Allie, too, looked to the outside and bit her lip before turning back to Stark, reaching to fiddle with the buttons of her blazer.

"You know her?" Allie asked, instantly regretting the words as they came out from her mouth; it wasn't her place to probe him with such personal questions and she wondered if he might snap at her to mind her own business or to not pry into his private life – she was only his assistant after all. But Stark didn't do any of that; he gave _tsk_ and let out a deep breath, one that had been building up in him for some time as he locked eyes with her, seeming indifferent.

"I used to," he revealed, the previous bitterness and coolness that had carried his previous words gone, sharpness dulled as he, too, began to fiddle with the buttons on his jacket, slipping it from its holdings before placing it back again. His bouncing leg was beginning to cease its movement and he didn't appear as uneasy as before. Maybe a moment to breathe, to think, was all he needed rather than pushing him out the door and they still had a lot of time left before they passed the realm of being fashionably late and into being just plain late. "Old family friend, I guess you could say."

"Could say, but it wouldn't be the truth," Allie muttered and nodded to her words, a wry smile on his face in agreement before he reached a free hand up to tap the side of his nose.

"You catch on quick," Stark stated jokingly but it felt forced, as if he wanted to retain the air of breeziness from moments before but the spirit wasn't quite the same, wasn't quite recaptured. "No such things as friends and loyalty in this kind of world that we're stepping into."

Allie frowned at his words shaped into a lament, but said so indifferently as if he was used to it. Concerned, Allie dropped all sense of joking from before and stared at him, trying to find the right reply to say. The bags beneath his eyes seemed heavier, shoulders dropped as he lay back into the seat of the chair, looking ready to fall asleep as Allie sat beside him, further up on the lip of the seat and back straight; their legs were pressed side by side, hips up against one another and Allie hadn't realised how close they were until she tried to face him completely, only a small space being available from how slumped her was back in the chair and how far up on the edge of the seat she was. "It sounds like a lonely world."

Her words felt far too deep and thought provoking for a time like this, or a conversation like this. Allie felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at what she said and felt like laughing at herself or perhaps slapping her forehead; she would have preferred the former because in that way, at least she wouldn't have to worry about messing up her make up. Stark mulled over what she had just said before lifting his shoulders and brushing past Allie's words.

"The food is better than most places through," Stark stated casually, resuming fiddling with the button of his jacket once more, slipping it in and out of place in swift motions. "So I guess that makes it bearable."

The easy change in subject was something Allie felt grateful for and nodded enthusiastically, reaching up to brush the escaped strands of hair back behind her hair, hooking them in place before a thought popped into her head as she took her phone from her pocket once more to pull up her digital note pad. "Oh and, before we go in, just remember that you have a dinner reservation for later this evening,"

Stark sharpened his gaze at her as Allie looked up and she felt confused by his reaction, his fiddling ceasing for a moment. "Reservation for what?"

"You just…" Allie began, hands dropping as she felt a watery, foolish panic flood through her at the prospect of doing something she shouldn't have done. His face didn't change and Allie racked her brain, trying to find proof that he had told her to make the reservation in the first place, that she hadn't been tricked and her mind decided to make her do it all on a whim. A splutter left her as she tried to explain herself. "You told me to make one, I didn't – "

"Just kidding," Stark grinned and that previous panic drained from her instantly, face dropping and feeling unamused at being the butt end of his antics, scowling as he clapped her gently on the shoulder. "I'm meeting someone, an old friend. Don't get worked up about it."

"Alright, well, we better get going," Allie said, steal in her words and, had she the courage, she might have cursed him for his teasing and jokes but, instead, Allie grunted quietly and placed her phone into her jacket pocket once more, resisting the urge to give him a smack for getting her all worked up and worried about making a mistake.

Allie moved back to the other end of the seat, the heat from the side of her leg rapidly leaving her as she shuffled into her previous spot, ready to grasp the handle and push the door open before she glanced a look over her shoulder, seeing that Stark had not yet moved to do the same. His leg had picked up its jittery pace once more, even quicker than before, and his fingers were twisting the button on his jacket, slipping it out, in, turning it. That previous worry Allie had felt resurfaced and she dropped her hand from the handle, looking to him and pursing her lips, the object of her concern completely lost in his thoughts. Her voice was soft, gentler than her usual steady tone as she spoke to gain his attention, moving closer to him but retaining some space for the both of them. She thought to reach out and touch his arm but decided against it. "Mr. Stark?"

He didn't start at her voice but his movement stopped for the briefest of moments before starting up again, not caring to turn back to her as he replied. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to go inside?" Allie kept that same tone as before, adopting it as her concern grew, leaning slightly forward on the seat to put herself in his line of vision, latching onto his eyes and Stark was impassive, as if unaware that his current state was a cause for concern. Was it anxiety? Dread? Did he just not want to be here, or was there an underlining reason that Allie would have to dig out and pick apart? He gave her a reassuring smile that didn't reassure her at all.

"Of course," Stark chirped back at her, straightening his back and tugging at his tie, the material appearing more scarlet red in the dark lighting and Allie didn't feel her apprehension ease off as Stark reached out and opening his door, a burst of fresh air bursting in, a wave rushing over Allie and cooling down her warm cheeks. Stark heaved a deep breath, not caring for the smell of the city all that much as he put a foot out the door. "I just wanted another moment judging what everyone's wearing. Feeling quite the Joan Rivers today."

Allie moved back along the seat and opened up her own door, grateful for the coolness of August once more, glad that the hot weather was turning into something she could find to be bearable. Checking that she had everything, Allie closed her door and made her way around to wear Stark stood, fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt sleeve, tugging it down and straightening to buttons. Allie thought to maybe let it go, but wanted to make sure, to give him at least another chance to say that he didn't want to be there. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Never better," Stark reassured her, sucking in a deep breath as he turned to give an inclination of the head to the driver, waving him off and leaving them alone on the pavement. Allie eyed him from where she stood, the height of her heels bringing them nearly to the same level but he still managed to retain some inches above her.

"I'll make sure to be close by in case you need anything," Allie offered, voice low and making sure she was heard as Stark gave a nod, as if pleased with the suggestion.

"Good," he said, walking towards the building, Allie moving quickly to keep up pace with him, glad that she had been sensible in her choice of shoes and that at least they were easy to walk in, not causing her to worry about falling face first into the tarmac. "I'll need you to stick close in case someone tries to rope me in on a conversation I don't want part of."

"Maybe we should have a signal," Allie said aloud. "Like, cough twice and blink once,"

"But what if I need to cough anyways?"

"Then hoot like an owl."

"That'll be inconspicuous."

"Or frighten people off so they won't want to talk to you," she offered, Allie pausing in her steps at the same time he did with the older man turning to face her, not caring for the crowd that was making their way around the two to get inside.

"You know Ms. Lawrence," Stark said, turning to face her and there was a grin splitting across his face, a flash of straight white teeth as he reached into his breast pocket once, taking a hold of his glasses and slipping them on, allowing Allie to catch a colour stained reflection of herself. "I take back everything bad I've ever said about you; you're quite the revolutionary."

"Wait," Allie asked as Stark began to walk ahead of her, confused and befuddled. "You've said bad stuff about me?"

* * *

White was everywhere; the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the lights; it was all so bright and Allie pitied the poor soul who would have to clean the place of all and any smudges and dirt tracks. Though Allie supposed the blankness of the place, void of anything to distract the eye, made the paintings and artwork stand out more, scattered throughout the place on walls and easels. People were milling around the place in small groups, clutching glasses of champagne despite the early morning or nibbling on the delicate cheeses that were _not_ as nice as they appeared – Stark had barely managed to stifle a laugh at seeing Allie's face scrunch up in disgust as the taste hit her and she all but chugged down more than a litre of water to rid the lingering traces of the finger food.

The two had separated not too long ago, her employer taking it upon himself to mingle with the crowd who were throwing glances at him. Allie reassured him once more she would be close by in case he would need anything and she might have given him a pat on the back from the look on his face at the prospect of socialising.

True to her word, Allie lingered near Stark, keeping a distance and allowing herself to take in the décor while also keeping the man in her line of sight, watching him slip into small talk rather easily than what she expected, talking to one guest and then another with ease, gathering a small group of people who sought to talk with Tony Stark himself. The worry of before ceased and Allie found herself giving a sigh of relief at how effortlessly Stark managed to intermingle and began to give her attention to what was around her, taking in the sights of what lay on the walls in bundles.

For the most part, there were few that looked to be in good shape, torn or with curling edges, black burned curves crawling across the canvas. Allie was never one for artwork, could never really see the appeal of it and found it hard to find a deeper meaning in the splashes of colours that formed nonsensical shapes. She supposed her lack of creativity wouldn't be appreciated around the gallery and never lingered at one painting for too long, not wanting to invite anyone to start up a conversation with her.

It appeared that people seemed to be more interested in conversation than for what they originally invited for and Allie didn't really blame; she had no interest in art, no interest in painting or anything of the sort and soon found herself barely finding any of what she saw having an appeal to her, all very different but seeming the same to her in the end. She cast one more glance back to Stark but saw him in the middle of laughing, at his own joke or at another's, she couldn't tell, but gave a smile and a shake of her head and turned back to what she was doing previously, her heels clicking against the ground but not echoing as loudly as worried they might.

Allie's eyes moved over the walls and then she found darkness, a gaping black hole propped on the wall at an enormous size that she couldn't have fathomed, the width of the canvas being nearly the size if Allie stretched her arms out beside her. Allie paused in her footsteps, staring up at the oddity, trying to make sense of that she was seeing, squinting her eyes slightly as she followed the shape of it around the canvas, making out a circular shape and outside of it were splashes of navy, indigo, violet, dark colours akin to black but in each lighting were a different hue. It was large, consuming, not what she expected to see as it seemed to be relatively new and Allie thought she could even smell the paint from it but thought her mind to be playing tricks on her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The voice made Allie start and she turned to see an old woman beside her, admiring the painting with sharp blue eyes set in a pinched face, brown hair smoothed back to the nape of her neck. Allie blinked at the sight of her bright green velvet coat and Stark's previous words echoed in her mind and Allie gave a cough, clearing a way for her voice.

"Oh! Yes. I'm not one for art but looking at this…" She didn't really know what to say, what she could say because, looking at the artwork, it seemed that words couldn't be formulated to describe what it was meant to be. Her eyebrows knotted together, twitching at a memory and then the realisation hit her, of what it was, what it was meant to be, to represent. She could still see the tear in the sky in her mind and it turned her stomach upside down.

"The artist says it is to remind us of out mortality," the woman sighed, looking on uninterested at the painting as she reached up to smooth down her hair behind her ear, giving a blasé shrug. "Quite frankly, it looks horrendous."

"They're right," Allie said quickly, not quite put off by the woman's outward appearance and looked once more back at the painting with the new revelation in mind, trying to see an end to all the darkness that was piled on atop of the previous blank white background. She couldn't find any source of light within it, the artificial glow from the ceiling catching on the brush strokes, highlighting them as being short and hasty, making it appear like a swirling mess rather than just smooth as it had appeared upon first glance. "It's frightening to see so much darkness."

"Yes, well, anything sells, I suppose," the woman snorted and Allie turned to her, giving a polite smile before the other woman turned to her, giving her a thin lipped smile before extending a hand. "Mrs. Krüger."

"Allison Lawrence," Allison greeted, taking the woman's cold hand in her own and giving it a firm shake before the two broke apart, Ms. Krüger casting her eyes up and down Allie's form quickly, as if it were something she was used to doing before giving a hum, though Allie didn't know if it was a positive or negative response to what she saw. Allie itched beneath the woman's sharp gaze and turned back to what she was staring at before, trying to tap into whatever creative vein that might be hidden in her mind to find any further deeper meaning to the painting rather than just it being an artwork comprising of dark colours and the promise of death.

"You know I wouldn't have believed Tony Stark was here if I hadn't seen him with my own eyes," Mrs. Krüger suddenly stated, Allie tearing her gaze away from what was on the wall to the other woman who was staring over at said man, Allie doing the same to see him quite happily chatting with other people as he had been before but now more people were being drawn into the conversation. "He draws quite the crowd."

Allie smiled at her words, nodding along to them as she watched him play the part of being one of this world that he had said he had detested before so naturally. "I guess he just has an enigmatic vibe."

"He's just like his father, you know," Mrs. Krüger suddenly stated out of the blue, making Allie blink at her words.

"You knew his dad?" she asked, unaware of how the woman was connected to the family, only that she had been a friend of them.

"Oh, yes," she nodded along to her words. "Very no nonsense type of man. Very cold, very business-like."

Allie's nose scrunched up, turning her eyes back to Stark as she watched him give another smile, trying to connect what the woman had said to what she say. Tony Stark was many things, but she couldn't really see him as being _cold._ "I don't know. Mr. Stark doesn't seem very cold."

"Don't let him fool you. I remember when he was a young boy," Mrs. Krüger snorted, taking on something that appeared to be a condescending tone to her voice, Allie's lips curving downwards at the woman as she spoke. "Such a handful; always crying and making a fuss. He used to hang off his mother. None of the other boys or girls liked to play with him because of how much he used to be quite the cry-baby. To be honest with you, I wouldn't blame them."

Allie frowned at the woman's words, not really caring for them and felt annoyance prickle at her, bristling at how uncaring Mrs. Krüger's words were towards Stark. Allie swallowed the words that were bubbling in her tongue and took a breath, trying to appear polite and civil despite the fact the other participant of the conversation most certainly was not attempting to do the same. "He was a _child_."

"A terrible child, too," snorted Mrs. Krüger, reaching up to fiddle with her dangling earring and Allie was aghast at what this woman was saying. Allie didn't presume to know Stark on any level besides their professional relationship, but the words this woman was saying were rubbing her the wrong way. Despite the subject of this woman's cold words being an adult man who could defend for himself, in the end she was talking about a _child_ in such a terrible way and any person who did that was someone Allie didn't want to associate with. Stark had been right about there being an asshole or two with the size of the crowd. "My God, if his father were to see him now."

"I think Mr. Stark's father would be proud of his son. He's accomplished so much and done so much for people in and outside of America," Allie defended, gritting her teeth and saying her words through a clenched jaw that were coated with a fake niceness, trying to not appear overly rude. With a steely determination, Allie extended her hand and motioned towards the art on the wall. "This painting? It's based on what he lived. He's seen his own mortality, Ms. Krüger. He was ready to sacrifice his life for New York. I think Mr. Stark's father would be very proud of him."

At the end of Allie's words, she found her voice going soft, arm dropping to stare at the painting, the words of what she said hitting her with a truth she never recognised. Looking at it now, it seemed so much more frightening, ready to leap from the canvas to consume Allie and it tied her stomach in knots, wondering if this is what Stark saw, worrying if it was what kept him up at night. The other woman gave a huff, dropping her hand from where it was fiddling with her earring and shook her head, rolling her eyes and maintaining that cold, pinched look on her face. "One act doesn't wipe the slate clean."

"But it does help to outweigh mistakes," Allie insisted, finding that she was reaching a point where she couldn't really care whether not she was polite or not to the woman anymore. Her vile green coat was just as sickening as her personality. "Were you here during The Incident, Ms. Krüger?"

"Goodness, no. I hate staying in New York," Mrs. Krüger stated coolly. "My husband is only here on business."

"Well, I was. I was here when it all happened, but I thank God that I wasn't in the thick of the fight," Allie replied, voice stronger and cool, steel and ice that made the prickly blue eye of the other woman turn to her, narrowing as she picked up on Allie's less than polite tone. It spurred Allie on because she could feel a flame in her chest, at how unappreciative Mrs. Krüger was, at how _apathetic_ she was at the fact that so many people could have died without Tony Stark being there. "And I also thank God every day that Tony Stark was here because if he hadn't been here, eighteen million people would be dead right now. I… I would be dead right now."

Allie paused and turned her gaze back towards the gaping Wormhole, a realisation hitting her full force and stealing the breath from her lungs, making her pause in her current growing antipathy towards the woman in the green coat. Something wrapped around her throat, a lump that felt too big for her throat forming as she turned her gaze to over the shoulder of Mrs. Krüger, eyes wide as she found Stark, found him talking but appearing more drained than before, the glasses still set on his nose because they hid the purple beneath his eyes. A feathery, soft and shaky exhale left Allie, moth like in a gentle fluttering as she was hit with the full force of understanding, and awareness of her previous prejudice built on lies and bloated rumours she had read on the internet.

It had never hit her how true it was, that without Tony Stark, she would be dead at that moment, she and millions other people would be nothing but ash and dirt, barely bones.

"You idolise what you've seen on the internet," Mrs. Krüger scoffed, no longer attempting to keep up whatever she thought was an appearance of politeness as she looked down at her nose at Allie and Allie shook her head, no longer wanting to waste the energy into disliking the woman.

"No," Allie refuted. "I respect what I've witnessed him doing."

"He never does anything for anyone else," the other woman warned, stepping closer so that Allie could smell her perfume as it rolled off in waves, strong and stinging Allie's nose to the point she thought she might sneeze. "Ask yourself why he's here if not to soak up the attention."

"Maybe I should be asking _you_ why _you're_ here, Ms. Krüger," Allie snapped back but taking on a sickly sweet tone, giving a faux smile of friendliness as she glowered at the woman through narrowed eyes. "If you're so readily to give him the attention he doesn't even want."

Mrs. Krüger's pale and hollow cheeks became flushed with a watered down, pale red colour that did little to help her complexion. "Why you – "

"Oh, sorry. I have to go. My boss is calling me over," Allie smiled, glancing over the woman's shoulder just in time to see Stark break away from his small audience and gesture to her. Mrs. Krüger followed Allie's line of sight, turning on the spot and whatever redness in her cheeks that had been there before, was now rushed away and she appeared pale, maybe even as green as her coat before turning back to Allie, mouth snapped shut and beady eyes wide. Allie still kept that fake, very customer service like smile on her face. "I would say it was a nice talk we had, but I'm afraid that I'd be lying."

Allie walked away without another glance to the woman, quite glad to be torn away from the conversation as Stark's eyes flickered back and forth between the two women, not bothering to hide his surprise at the two striking up an unlikely conversation. She drew nearer and, at being closer, Allie could Stark raise an eyebrow while attempting not to smirk at her obviously displeased face.

"So," he began, far too chirpy and amused as his hand unwound to hover behind her back, guiding her to the main hall where the auction was being held, making their way through the crowd and sticking together with their heads bent low so that their words could only be heard by the other. Allie glanced at him and saw his mouth twitching as the crowd filtered through, Stark's hand now pressed against her back, warm and reassuring her that she wouldn't get lost or pushed and jostled around. "How fast did that conversation deteriorate?"

"What do you mean?" Allie replied sweetly but her face still held onto the remnants of her distaste of the woman from before and Stark passed her a look, helping her through as they entered the large room, chairs that looked more expensive than anything she had ever sat on before lined up. Much like the rest of the building, the place was white and bright, not that easy on the eyes but Allie adjusted soon enough to it.

"Well, the old witch was looking quite red, if I do say so," he sniggered, not caring if anyone could hear his words. They made their way to the front row of chairs, the light touch of Stark's hand only leaving Allie's back when they got through the thick of the crowd and moved to sit down, each beside the other. "What did she say?"

"Just as you said," Allie grinned, smoothing out her skirt beneath her as she sat, Stark taking the seat beside her as Allie moved in closer, not wishing for any ears to pick up on the conversation. Stark copied her movement, an elbow resting on the arm rest with his hand dangling off of it, linked with the other as Allie rested her own arm on her own, the two bumping shoulders in their hushed whispers. "She probably skins dalmatians in her basement,"

"It wasn't an assumption," Stark retorted, voice equally mischievous. "Next week she'll be walking around in a new fur coat and no one will be able to find Lassie."

"You know," Allie replied after a moments deliberation as more people began to file into the rows behind them, glad that they had chosen the front row seats so she had enough leg room and wouldn't have to knock knees with anyone if she needed to leave to go to the bathroom. "I always wondered what did happen to Bambi's mother."

A laugh left him and he opened his mouth to reply but at that moment, an older man came up and greeted him, a tight smile beneath his rather large nose, hand thrusted out for a handshake. Stark complied, he and Allie breaking apart from one another as more people began to sit, an older couple claiming the two empty seats to Allie's left.

It wasn't long before the actual even began, the hosts of the event greeting the crowd and loading them with compliments of their kindness and generosity (which felicitated a scoff from Stark and Allie gave him a subtle, small hit to the arm, shaking her head in mock disapproving fashion). Allie quickly found herself bored, which made her feel quite guilty since she knew that feeling bored at a _charity event to raise money for a children's hospital_ was not really a good thing. Stark was unhesitant in participating, often winning whenever he bid as no one would dare to go higher than him. It went on for some time, the crack of the gavel stirring her whenever she was lost in her thoughts, sinking into the elegant but surprisingly comfy chair with each passing second.

"You know," Stark whispered to her suddenly, making Allie turn her eyes towards him. "I know this is for charity and all, but is it bad that I already want this to be over?"

Allie gave a stifled, breathy laugh, feeling somewhat relieved that she hadn't been alone in feeling exactly like that. "It would just be too easy to slap the money on the table. Takes the thrill of it all away."

"Nothing like the thrill of seeing who can donate the most amount of money and effectively show they're the better person," Stark said with a roll of his eyes and Allie shook her head, pulling herself once more into a straighter seating position lest she might end up falling asleep where she sat.

Time ticked on by, the auctioneer's voice droning on and on to the point Allie managed to become so unfocused, she could barely hear it, the snap of the gavel doing little to draw her back in. Her mind wandered to thoughts of what she needed to do once they were done here, of the work she needed to sort through, the e-mails she needed to reply to and the calls she had to return. Allie was glad that she was kept busy and she hoped the work might be able to wake her up some but. Allie itched to take her phone out of her pocket to check the time but decided against it in case it might come off as rude.

Just then, the painting of before, the one that had been the only one to draw her in, was brought on the small, set stage, appearing much larger than before as it had been on the wall. The tiredness at the corner of Allie's eyes slunk away as she sat straighter, staring at it in a new light and admiring the way the light managed to catch on the chaos of the brush strokes; the auctioneer onstage cleared her voice, speaking louder to address the hall as she spoke about the history behind the piece, as if no one in the room could tell what it was about, or had never seen its likeness before on television or the internet, or in newspaper articles before. Allie, from the corner of her eye as she cast a glance around her, could see a few people dropping eyes or shifting in their seats.

Though none seemed to raise more cause for concern than Stark.

As Allie sat right once more in her chair she caught Stark shifting in his seat, the hand resting on his arm rest curling into a fist, his jaw clenching with a muscle jumping beneath the skin due to the strain he was putting on it. A sure sign of his extreme discomfort was the fact his leg began bouncing again, moving up and down so quickly his movements were blurred. Allie turned back to face the stage but it was his sudden, stilted breathing that drew her away from it once more. Allie watched Stark shuffle, other arm reaching up to place his fingers over his lips and, in doing so, she could see his hands were shaking, eyes sharp and narrowed as he stared at what he had seen before, a sheen on his forehead, breathing uneven. Quietly, Allie leaned in, but making sure to not get too into his personal space so as to allow him some room to think, to take in air.

"Mr. Stark," Allie whispered but he didn't hear her, far too focused on what was ahead of him. Wondering if she should just leave him be, Allie pursed her lips and her hand found its way on his arm, the touch bringing his eyes flickering to her in an instant, unaware that of how undone he was becoming. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yes," he insisted, taking his fingers from his mouth and clearing his throat, attempting to appear less discomforted but it did little to ease Allie's worry. If anything, it made her concern for him grow. If he had seen himself, he would not have agreed with his own words. "Of course I am."

"Really? Because you're sweating – a lot," Allie replied, keeping her voice low and hoping no one would care too much to watch the two as they traded soft spoken words. Allie's eyes darted to the sheen on his forehead, to his hand near his mouth, biting her lip and making sure to tread carefully, not yet taking her hand back from his arm. "Your hands are shaking."

"It's nothing," Stark stressed once more, though she could hear how unsteady his voice was, a shaky exhale leaving him as he laced his hands together in order to still them. Allie removed her hand from his arm, not wanting to annoy him with the pitiful that was currently on her face. She knew what it was like to have someone stare at her like that and it frustrated her to no end. "I'm fine."

Allie decided against pressing him in case it might really set him off, casting one last concerned look to him before turning away, eyebrows locked together as she tried to rack her brain of something, _anything_ to get them out of this situation. Allie knew the signs, could see them because she had went through them before; having an anxiety attack in the middle of a public place was not something anyone should have to go through, even if he might try to deny it. The level at which he was reacting to the traumatic sight of something he once had to experience was a cause for concern and Allie began to think of anything and everything to get him out of the situation.

Then, a light switch went off.

Allie made the move to stand, only getting to the edge of her seat before there was a soft grip on her arm and her eyes turned to Stark, blue eyes meeting wide-eyed brown.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, voice not as gruff as it was before and it seemed as if he was _worried_ that she was going to leave him alone in the moment.

"I'm just going outside for a moment," Allie reassured, settling herself back down once more and placing her hand over his that was around her arm, trying to ease off some of that worry that was racking his body but Stark's eyes narrowed at her words, as if he thought her to be lying.

"Why?"

Allie raised an eyebrow. "I need the bathroom."

It was if the thought never appeared to him and Stark's face morphed into one of surprise, unwinding and slipping his hand from underneath Allie's at an amusingly fast pace. "Right."

"I'll only be a minute and I'll be back soon, okay?" Allie assured once more, before moving to stand and making her way out, not as bothered at the loudness of her heels clicking against the floor as she would have been. Out of the room, she felt like she could breathe, sucking in a large gulp of air as she found herself in where she had been previously, though all was empty and the walls were bare. Making her way from the opened doors to the auction room, Allie attempted to find the bathroom as her hand found her phone, unlocking it and sorting through her call log in order to find what she needed.

Spying the sign for the ladies' room, Allie ducked in, shoes echoing off the tiles as she checked quickly for anyone hiding in the stalls before tapping the call button, pressing it to her ear as she leaned against the counter, catching sight of her reflection and feeling relief to see that her hair was still smooth as well as her make up not melting off her face as it might have years beforehand during her teen years. The line rang out and Allie waited, heart in her throat as she prayed that her plan would work and that someone would pick up.

To her immense relief, she heard a click and a voice spoke through from the other end of the line, a sigh of relief leaving Allie.

"Hi. This is Allison Lawrence," Allie began, voice sweet and what she was used to speaking with when she had worked in customer service. She knew that being polite and nice would get her want she wanted faster and easier. "I made a call some time ago about making a reservation for Tony Stark. I was wondering if we can bump up a few hours? Say, in an hour?"

* * *

"That wasn't a minute," Stark hissed at Allie, though truth be told he didn't sound all that annoyed or pissed at her. Allie made to move back into her previous spot, taking notice of how he was restless, trying to contain whatever nervous energy in him with constant movement.

"Sorry," Allie explained as she sat back down in her chair once more beside Stark, phone secured in her pocket as Stark watched her movements with narrowed eyes, his previous fidgeting not stopping during the time she was gone. Her voice carried an apologetic tone as she tossed him a small smile. "Long line."

"God, does she ever shut up?" Stark muttered harshly, glaring hard at the auctioneer who seemed dead set on continuing to talk about the Wormhole piece as she had been before Allie had left to go to the bathroom minutes beforehand. Stark appeared to be even more agitated, glowering at what was in front of him as Allie settled into her seat one more, glad that she had taken it upon herself to make that call earlier.

"Soon. Probably," Allie replied, maintaining an air of being nonchalant, not wanting to appear overtly unnatural. Allie knew she was a bad liar and she attempted to appear as normal as she could as she reached into her phone, acting as if she had gotten a notification, bringing down the brightness of her screen as she continued in her actions for a moment before turning to the man beside her, bringing herself in close and dropping her voice. "Mr. Stark, we need to be going."

Stark turned to Allie, tearing his eyes from the artist on stage and his leg paused in its bouncing, hands stopping their fidgeting. "We do?"

"Your dinner reservation," Allie said pointedly but not so much so as to not give herself away completely. Stark stared, the look of confusion not something she'd ever seen before and Allie leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper so as to not annoy the other attendees with her and Stark's constant chattering but loud enough for someone to actually hear so that if people did start talking about why he had left during the middle of the auction, at least someone could be there to explain in the form of gossip. "We can't leave your guest waiting."

"That isn't – " Stark began, looking at her strangely as Allie continued to be unhesitating in meeting his eyes and it seemed as if something in him clicked, a light switch to turn on the lightbulb above his head and a curve found its way across his lips, reaching up the straighten his tie before he moved to stand, not caring for the glances thrown their way. "Of course. I forgot. Let's go, shall we?"

Stark moved hastily, quicker than she would have ever thought to have seen him; she called the driver as Stark remained inside clearing up whatever business he needed to clear up with regards to payment and delivery before he joined her once more, all but sagging with relief as the car pulled up to Allie's amusement.

"God, I thought we would never leave," Stark groaned as he slid into the car at the same Allie did, both reclaiming their seats earlier on opposite ends of the car seat as they snapped shut each respective car door, cutting off the hustle and bustle of every day life. Allie silently agreed with Stark and wriggled her toes in her shoes; she was glad she had chosen practical ones because only now were they starting to nip and nibble at her poor feet, aching spots beneath the skin.

"The food wasn't half as good as you said it would be," Allie commented as she buckled herself in, already feeling the relief of sitting down and taking the wait off of her feet, stretching out her legs in front of her as her buckle snapped into place with a small click.

"I didn't say it was _good_ just that it was _better_ than most places," he emphasised, elicitating a laugh from Allie.

"Well," Allie quipped, reaching into her pocket to take out her phone, not looking forward to going through the miles upon miles long missed notifications that would await her as she adopted a lighter tone as she spoke, casting him a comforting smile, pleased that all had worked out. "At least the day was a success in many ways."

"You could say that. My pocket is lighter, I contributed to society," he said flippantly, making a point to pat the pockets of his pants at his words as Allie looked on, amused at his actions before he turned to her, a gleam in his eyes as he continued on. "And my dinner reservation is sooner than I originally set it."

"Yeah. They called when I was in the bathroom," Allie explained with a nonchalant shrug, pulling up her phone and sorting through e-mails so as to distract herself and to not show her face towards him lest he might pick up on her bluff. "Something about times and tables and everything so I just asked for the next available time."

"Thank you, Ms. Lawrence," Stark softly said, tearing Allie's concentration from her phone to him, stunned at the gentleness of his words and unexpectedly meeting his eyes, ensnared by them and neither seemed brave enough to look away but Stark gave a cough, shuffling in his seat and looking to the passing, blurred world outside and his voice was once more stronger, less feathery than what she was used to. "For not making the decision to cancel for different day. Come to think of it, I think I'm starting to die of starvation. I'll have to call my friend to tell him we're meeting up earlier. But thank you, nonetheless."

Allie dropped her gaze to her phone but not really focusing on what was on the screen, the light from the device in her hands doing little to hide the small, gentle smile that graced her lips, highlighting the rush of red that bloomed across her cheeks.

"You're welcome, Mr. Stark."

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my (IMPORTANT) A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

* * *

 _ **pinkeye: thank you! i hope that i managed to impress with this chapter as i have for others! as for allie meeting the other avengers, well, it will be a long while before any of that happens - maybe not that long! she doesn't meet the entire team until far, far, FAR into the story and i already have the first meeting planned out! and all I can say is that it's going to be a lot of fun to read as it will be to write. as for allie's skills with hacking, she has a long way to go until she's up to a high standard but there are a few scenes in the future that do show her improving and becoming better! thank you for reviewing and supporting this fic!**_

 _ **Guest: thank you so much! it's been a story that's been in my mind for a long while now (i've loved tony stark since the first iron man came out but that was way back before i even had internet or understood what fanfiction was) and i do try to put a lot of time and effort into this story until im** **satisfied** **with what i've written! thank you so much for supporting this fic and reviewing!**_

 _ **Rindo Seiren: ahh thank you! i'm so bad with editing chapters because i'm just so lazy and once i've written a chapter i dont like to look at it for some reason. as for allie and her prejudice, well that's starting to turn now! it never really hit her that without tony, she and everyone she knew and loved could be dead and if that doesnt gain some mad respect then i don't know what will. and boy oh boy will allie take up the mantle of tony stark's best defender. watch out all in universe anti-tony stans allie wont hesitate to fight anyone if they insult tony. thank you so much for reading and supporting this fic!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you so much! i hope that i managed to meet expectations with this (late) chapter! for me, this is the turnaround moment in their friendship and relationship because it makes allie let go of all previous prejudices and it makes tony realise that he can trust allie and that she can understand him more than he expected. these two kids are gonna be the death of me i s2g. thank you for continuing to love and support my fic!**_

* * *

 _ **i know i'm late but i have a good excuse! i was working more days last week and i was so tired i couldn't write. any time i don't upload on a tuesday, you can expect i'll upload by a wednesday. if it isn't uploaded tuesday or wednesday, then i will upload the following tuesday to keep it consistent. i also might be updating late next week because i get my final exam results next week and im sort of nervous to see what i get and i don't know if i'll be able to write or update for the following tuesday and the week after, but I will try!**_

 _ **also, i hoping to get this fic done within the year if i keep up with the weekly updates. i don't want to be writing during college because it'll get tricky and i'll end up abandoning the fic.**_

 _ **the good news is that i am taking a year's deferral from college mostly to keep working and save up money but also because i want to focus on my writing (if i get into my first course choice i will be able to do creative writing AND english but if i dont get enough points for my first course choice then i'll only be doing english with two other subjects).**_

 _ **i have another fic on a different site that i was hoping to get done by spring 2019 but it just isn't realistic to get it finished by then but with this fic, i might have it finished by summer 2019 or maybe even spring 2019 but it all depends on the number of chapters. I have the first 23 chapters planned out and i have a story outline that i'm trying to break down into chapters and what not so this story might just end up being over 40 chapters long, maybe even 50, it all depends really.**_

 _ **you know, the main thing i loved about im3 was that it showed tony suffering from anxiety and PTSD, that he was a hero who suffered with mental illness and it was something i could relate to and it made me love him even more. And it always annoyed me that they just didn't care to show him like that for the other movies. DAMN YOU JOSS WHEDON! MY BOY IS A MESS AND YOU PRY HIM RECOVERING SLOWLY BUT SURELY RATHER THAN RETCONNING HIS MENTAL ILLNESS FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!**_

 _ **but anyway, enough of that now. once more sorry for this VERY UNEDITED chapter.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	10. Chapter Nine

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Nine._**

Tony Stark was a strange man.

It wasn't that Allie didn't know this before, or that she thought it as an insult, but there were quirks and characteristics that made Allie think he was not on the spectrum of being wholly normal, as could be defined by many people. It wasn't meant as a mean thought, or a snigger behind her hand, but she couldn't help but define him as such. Maybe it was the flying suits he built, or the fact there was an A.I that he created that would chime in at the oddest of times, but Tony Stark was a strange man.

Allie supposed it kept her on her feet and allowed her to be ready for anything; she had thought those days that were frequent in customer service were over but, evidently, they were not. Not that she minded all that much; it kept her busy, kept her distracted and allowed her to put her usually wasted energy into something productive – or, of that sort. Over the month and a bit that Allie had been working for Tony Stark, she found herself slipping into something that resembled a routine more often than not; she would wake, get ready to go to work and arrive at work usually a minute or two late – something Stark never let go. She still floundered sometimes, having still a lot to learn about the profession of being an assistant but she liked to think she was getting the hand of it.

Or, rather, Allie liked to think she was getting the hand of understanding Tony Stark.

Seeing a celebrity superhero in such a personal space was… bizzare, to say the least. She was still trying to connect the mad she saw splashed over newspapers and tabloids to the one that drank boiling water one time because he forgot to put in the coffee grinds into his cup. That was something she herself could relate to but she tried not to laugh when he winced at having done so. There were parts of him that Allie had expected, tiny snippets of his personality that was shown on television that bled over into his real life. And there were parts that were… not expected.

In her head, Allie dubbed them "Quiet Days" because those were the days when Stark made sure to make as much noise as possible – save for talking. Those were the days Allie could instantly pick up on because as soon as she walked into the place, the room would be quaking with the loudness of his music. He couldn't be classified as moody or grumpy on those days, but rather there was an eerie melancholy to him that unsettled Allie as she wasn't used to such gloominess that seemed to ooze from him. Had she been less understanding, Allie might have left him to his own devices and simply withstand the bleeding of her ears from the sheer volume of his music; yet, she did not. So, "Quiet Days" soon became "Bug Tony Stark As A Form Of Distraction Days" too.

In her own experience of experiencing bouts of depression (she didn't want to project onto Stark but Allie couldn't help but find a snippet of those past and sometimes current experiences that she went through in him), distraction was what she needed, craved.

Allie became Stark's shadow on those days, hoping to at least provide some sense of comfort to the man when storm clouds rolled in overhead; sometimes, he let her talk about whatever she needed to ask him, sometimes he would chime in and, sporadically, he would even keep up a conversation with a weary tone of voice. Maybe he didn't have the heart to tell her to shut up as he had yet to send her away from his presence on those days when she was trying to make him know he wasn't alone.

And when those days weren't around, he resumed his normal way of life.

Though, normal could be a bit of a stretch.

"You know…" Allie began, stepping out from the elevator as she did so, the half empty and lukewarm cup of tea in her hand barely burning her palm as she made her way in further; there was no pounding sound of music and the only sounds she could hear were the jumbling of metal, clinking and crashing against one another. Her eyes made their way across the room, the glasses resting on the bridge of her nose making everything that bit easier to make out and Allie found herself being no longer surprised at the state it was in. More work for her later, Allie supposed; at least it would keep her busy. "When I said that some redecoration would liven up the place, I didn't mean for you to turn it upside down."

The room was a mess, as if a hurricane had rushed through and then an earthquake followed, which was led up by tornado that tore the place from top to bottom. There were trinkets and broken pieces that Allie couldn't fathom strewn all over the floor, speckled pieces of silver, grey, gold, black, red, and every shade in between. She could tell exactly what had possessed Stark to turn the place upside down, top to bottom but Allie remained somewhat apathetic due to the fact she was more than used to being in a place that was a mess – she was twenty-five, she practically lived in a dump until she realised that she was going to be the only person to clean up her own messes.

It wasn't an organised heap, like the first time she came here, and Allie sighed at the idea of having to pick everything up; it wasn't too bad, she supposed, it would keep her busy. Her secluded, small, designated area was untouched and that Allie was grateful for as she made her way across the room, and the sounds of tinkering paused for a moment before she could hear footsteps and there was Stark, peering out from what Allie had dubbed the Secluded Room as it was one of the places she had yet to fully see; sometimes her curiosity would prod at her to ask but she couldn't muster up the courage to do so, afraid it might be some top secret, super hero stuff. Allie doubted she would even be able to understand even if Stark tried to explain it to her in the simplest of ways.

Said man was grinning at her that moment, a mess and looking somewhat flushed but pleased to see her nonetheless, making Allie suspicious of what it was he was doing exactly to not point out that she was nearly a minute and a half late coming in. It wasn't exactly her fault that the person in front of her in the line at the coffee place was unsure of wanted full fat milk or skinny milk. Allie narrowed her eyes at Stark's rather delighted demeaner, placing her bag down on top of her desk alongside her cup as he remained unperturbed by her mistrusting look. His hair was a mess but he didn't look completely unkept, and Allie could even see that the splotches of purple beneath his eyes were less severe; this, she found, made her more relieved than she thought she could be.

"Allison, great!" Stark exclaimed, moving back inside the room and disappearing from Allie's view, voice echoing just that bit off of the walls as he called to her from across the other side of the workshop. Allied decided he was far too cheerful for her own liking but found that much preferred him on these days, when it wasn't all storm clouds and silence that was far too loud for her own liking. "Come inside here, will you?"

Allie blinked, surprised by his words and remained still for a moment, somewhat unsure if he was serious or not but quickly shook her head, the pony tail at the nape of her neck following the movement with strands tickling her throat and catching in the collar of her clothes. Unsure of why he needed her to go inside, but being far too curious to not comply, Allie shrugged off her coat and folded it over the back of her chair, ignoring the small shiver that ran through her at doing so; rubbing her palms together to rush away the coldness that had managed to seep into her bones, Allie made her way across the workshop as instructed, careful not to trip or catch her foot on anything that would end with her falling straight onto her face.

Making her way into the room, Allie found herself screeching to a stop as she took in the room, mind unable to comprehend it all; she gaped at it all, at the sleekness, at the holograms and at the _suits_ – _the_ suits that Iron Man wore, lined up on the wall and staring at her with their dark eyes. Allie's mouth all but dropped open at the sight, trying to drink it all in but there was _so much_ and it was everywhere; she took in the sight of faceplates, gold and red, silver and grey, scattered throughout and it looked like a massacre with discarded limbs that were bleeding wires, piled together in different areas and every now and again sparks would bust from the ends, not exactly the picture of health and safety.

Her eyes wandered to the sight of holograms – _real_ holograms that she had never had the chance of seeing before in real life instead of movies; she couldn't make out or make sense of what of what was pulled up, glasses on the bridge of her nose slipped as she stared at them, videos playing that she could barely hear save for the mumble of voices.

"Whoa," Allie breathed, her brain barely able to comprehend the magnitude of it all, unable to bend her mind around the concept of these being real things that someone actually created. She might have elected to stand there for a few hours, mouth dropped open and gaping at it all to drink it in had Stark not broken her attention, clapping his hands together to bring her eyes back to him.

"Amazing, I know, but instead of gawking, how about coming over here and giving me a hand?" Stark said, gesturing her over to the far side of the room where Allie first noticed the large suit of armour he was standing near, the size of it much larger than what she had expected. Confused, but curious, Allie moved towards him, becoming less and less sure at his request and what he could possibly need her help for.

Stark clapped a hand on the suit of armour, resting on its shoulder and Allie stopped in her footsteps beside him, looking to the eerie suit of armour and then back to Stark, befuddled and puzzled. "Uh, a hand?"

"Or both," Stark stated with a shrug before tilting his head to the side, examining her. "How strong are you?"

"I'm bordering between crumpling beneath any pressure and being out of breath after any form of exercise," Allie told him, uncertain of what he could possibly need of her that he couldn't do himself.

Stark weighed her words for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek before giving a nod to himself, turning to push away all the bits and bobs that lay around him to the side so as to clear a way for Allie and whatever it was that he needed of her. "That will do."

"What do you need me to do?" Allie asked, watching him as he moved before he decided he was pleased enough with his makeshift cleaning of the place and turned to her, brushing his hands off of his pants and sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth, gesturing her to move closer and placing his hand beneath the gaping hole that lay rooted into the chest of the suit.

"Well, I may have broken something and I need you to slip your arm in through that small hole," he told her, tapping the small circle with his index finger and Allie's face screwed up, staring at the gaping maw as if it might end up chewing her hand off and leave her with a bloodied stump.

"And do what, exactly?" Allie pressed, stepping in towards the suit and trying not to be intimidated by the sheer size of it, only just realising how tall it was and how expressionless it was. Part of her mind was convinced that it was watching her with its void for eyes, waiting for her to do as Stark asked only to chew her up and spit her out. The mere thought made Allie's stomach tie itself into knots and she pushed it away, not wanting to dwell on that image.

"There's a loose wire in at the bottom and I need you yank it out," he said and stepped aside to let her move in closer, standing to the side as Allie took a tentative step forward, hand edging towards the hold in the suit of armour and feeling like she was most definitely _not_ qualified enough for this; she didn't understand how he could trust her enough to do this without breaking it or triggering an explosion. The thought of either made her hesitant and Allie turned back to Stark.

"What will happen if I do?"

"Honestly?" Stark queried, Allie nodding to his question and he gave a lift of the shoulders. Maybe it'll be fixed, maybe it'll blow up."

"And how do I know which one is which?" Allie questioned, feeling less and less inclined to do as he asked.

Stark didn't reply straight away, looking at Allie with what she believed to be a dead pan stare, as if he didn't understand how she couldn't understand the difference between the two. "If it's fixed, it won't explode."

"Right," Allie said, blinking and wondering how on Earth did she not arrive that conclusion. "That makes sense."

Allie reached further into the small hole of the suit, ignoring how it bit into her arm, edges and ridges digging into her flesh through the thin material of her top and making her wince. Her hand fumbled around, trying to grasp anything of the sort that resembled what Stark was talking about while hoping that she didn't pull the wrong one and end up causing the two of them to die in an explosion. The thought and threat of that happen made her palms clammy, fingers stretched and sore until she felt something that might have been what Stark was talking about brush up against the pads of her fingers.

Confident, Allie reached in further, arm bent at an angle but found she could not stretch further; each time she managed to pinch the loose and floppy wire between her index and thumb it fell due to her loose grip and the sweat that was clinging to her hands. A huff left her and Allie rolled onto the balls of her feet, height increased and the angle not as sore but it was no use and her hands continued to blunder in their attempt of taking a hold of the damned thing, wrist twisting and trying an assortment of different angles to take it but it was no use. Her feet were beginning to ache and her shoulder creaked at each movement and twist, making it no use and Allie blew a small, silent raspberry, retracting her hand and hissing at the dull aches that bloomed in her elbow and shoulder from being forced into awkward positions.

"I can feel it but it's just out of reach," Allie explained, stretching her fingers and frowning as Stark stared on. Rolling her shoulder and brushing the loose strands of hair from her forehead and the side of her face behind her ear, Allie bit her lip and pushed her glasses back up her nose, turning to Stark who was standing close beside her. "Can you get me a box?"

Stark blinked, unsure of what he heard and his mouth parted, creases digging trenches in his forehead. "A box?"

"Yes, please," Allie asked and Stark complied, leaving the room and she could hear him rummaging about, trying to find something suitable for whatever it was Allie was going to use it for. Allie cast a glance up at the suit, staring at it's cold, lifeless, metal face and stared into the darkness of where eyes should be but were not found. It seemed so much _more_ in person rather than catching glimpses of videos online. It seemed bigger too, sleeker and less like the hunk of metal Allie had envision and seen captured before and, to her, it was towering, glaring down at her with its forever expressionless face. Truth be told, she didn't know how Stark managed to be around these unnerving this, let alone be inside of one.

Allie eyed the hole in the chest, staring at the gaping maw of where she had placed her had before and tentatively reached forward, fingers gracing the loop and ghosting around its edges, trying to peer into the darkness of within. She spanned the width of it by stretching her fingers until each one was pressed against the inside curve of the hole, eyebrows knotted together and wondering what was supposed to be there, why it remained empty, a void. _Oh,_ Allie thought, _it's that glowing thing_ ; she twisted her hand around the inside of it, trying to remember the weird glowing orb that used to be in his suits and how he would carry it around with him and how it would glow from beneath whatever suits he would wear, shining beneath layers of silk. Part of her wondered where it was now but felt it too ignorant or rude to ask, retracting her hand as she heard the echo of his retuning footsteps.

Clutched between his hands was a small, flimsy looking square that looked like it could only hold Allie's weight before toppling. He handed it to her and Allie muttered a thanks before placing it on the ground, Stark's eyes lighting up in realisation and there, on his mouth, was a teasing and amused smile while he watched Allie with absolute glee as she tested the weight of the box beneath her foot before stepping up onto it, heart in her mouth as it wobbled.

"That is absolutely adorable," Stark cooed playfully and Allie tossed him a glare as she slipped her hand back into the suit, eyes narrowing into pinpricks as she continued her fumble about to find the wire again.

"Shut up," Allie murmured, ignoring the heat in her cheeks as she groped around, rising slightly onto the balls of her feet and distributing her weight to one leg before the box began to tip, threatening to fall but, before it could, Stark took a hold of it, crouching down and holding it in place for Allie as she worked, the young woman tossing him a glance but only seeing that joking glint in his eyes.

"You want a step ladder for when you need to get down?" Stark laughed and Allie retracted her arm for a brief moment, eyebrow cocked and staring down at the older man from where he crouched.

"Do you want my help or not?" Allie asked and Stark made a motion of clamping his mouth shut, mouth pressed together so as to stop himself from teasing Allie any further. With a satisfied nod to herself, Allie once more reached in to the suit, moving around until she caught a hold of what she was looking for once more, this time being able to take it in her palm with her fingers wrapped around it; a grin on her face, Allie looked down to Stark, rather proud of herself for accomplishing the task. "I think I got it!"

With a tug, Allie pulled it free, almost forgetting Stark's warning that had it not been the correct wire, the suit would most likely implode and Allie stilled for a moment, waiting for an inevitable bang but moments passed and nothing happened.

"There," Allie exhaled, quite proud of herself for not blowing things up and, relieved, Allie smugly retrieved her arm with the wire held snugly in her palm, Stark standing as she jumped down, holding it in front of him for him to see with his own two eyes. "Tada!"

Stark took it within his hand, a gratified smile on his face as he twisted it between his fingers before tucking it carelessly into the pocket of his jeans, as if it hadn't previously been the small fine line between dying in an explosion and living moments before. "Your freakishly small self has saved the day."

"I'm not freakishly small!" Allie defended, all but gasping at his statement – however true it was. She glared and eyed him up and down, giving a scoff in return as her arms wound themselves across her chest. "And you aren't that much taller than me; you're, what, five eight?"

A stifled breath left him and Stark clapped a hand over his chest, gripping at his shirt as if Allie had offended his family honour rather than his height. "Five eight and a _half_!"

"Yes, pardon me for forgetting the half inch there."

"That brings back memories."

Allie closed her eyes, drinking in a large breath before opening her eyes and releasing a hand that was around her to point her index finger at Stark, a warning. "Don't."

"Alright, alright," Stark relented but Allie knew that he would have given anything in the world to continue the conversation. He turned back toward the suit and tinkered with it, fiddling with the hunk of metal as Allie turned around, trying to take in more of the place as much as she could to sate her curiosity. A crunch of metal made Allie wheel around, watching with something akin to horror as Stark dismembered the suit, ripping the arm off with little trouble and ripping wires free, not really caring enough about the spitting and hissing wires that hung free from the stump of the shoulder. Allie winced at the sight and her eyes followed Stark as he made his way over to a free work table, the sight of him holding the scrap of metal somewhat morbidly comical.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Allie asked, unable to help herself, wondering if he would even indulge her in an explanation. Allie wandered to where he sat, watching him tear the arm of the suit apart, discarding whatever he deemed trash to the side without much care.

"Breaking down what I have left for scraps," he explained to Allie, not turning to face her as she sidled up to the side of the work table but remaining unbothered as she stared on watching him work. "Most of these are outdated, anyway."

"' _Outdated_ '?" Allie repeated in disbelief. Surely, he couldn't be serious? Half the stuff here wouldn't have been possible ten years ago, even more. Maybe his idea of 'outdated' was far different to the normal standard of what 'outdated' meant. Allie gestured to the arm on the table, mind unable to make sense of any of what he was picking out and pulling apart. " _This_ is what you call outdated?"

"It's not what I call," Stark stated, turning to Allie briefly to tap at the side of his head with a quirk in his lips. "It's what I know."

"Christ, if this is outdated, I'd love to see what isn't," Allie whistled as Stark gave a snort, turning back away from her as Allie leaned herself up against the side of the table, rms resting loosely across her chest as she did so. She was glad Stark wasn't one to send her away to do her work because, truth be told, she quite enjoyed his company and enjoyed talking to him, enjoyed that it was easy to have a conversation with him. Allie stared at the skeletal form of the suit and clicked her tongue. "Or, you know, maybe not. You ever fear about this turning out to be all like the Terminator?"

"Well," Stark began, giving a huff. "A young Arnold Schwarzeneggar hasn't appeared so, no."

"What makes you think these are outdated?"

"I made them a few years back after I… _lost_ all my other suits," Stark told her but there was a shift in his tone, hands pausing briefly in their work and he shuffled in his seat, voice steel and stretched as if the words were hard to get out. Allie narrowed her eyes at his actions, biting her tongue in order to not blurt out anything that might make him uncomfortable or awkward, no matter how much she wanted to know. Stark coughed, as if realising the change in his voice and shrugged it off, not caring to explain himself to Allie, not that she minded; she wouldn't want to make things weird between them by getting all personal and emotional. "These were the first ones I made without having my own arc reactor to power them."

Oh! That was that weird, glowing orb thing she used to always see on him or in his suit, placed right where the gaping hole was in the one she had just seen; Allie's eyes glanced to his chest to see it blank, empty and void of the light and thought to ask what happened to it but decided against it in case it might be a taboo subject for him. She supposed she could always look it up on Google later but found the idea somewhat repulsive, that she could so easily intrude on his life and personal affairs without his consent or knowledge. Instead, Allie shelved the question for a later date and chose another one to ask. "So, you don't use them anymore?"

"They're not completely useless, just not as efficient as I would want them to be. There's always improvements to be made," Stark sighed and, as if to make a point, he ripped a strip of metal from the arm, leaning back at the shower of sparks that spat forward, tossing it to the side without as so much as a glance before pausing, eyebrows knitting together and turning to face Allie, a surprisingly serious look graving his features. "Can I ask why you're so interested?"

"You're kidding, right?" Allie laughed but there was no return quip and she stopped, looking at him confused, as he had looked at her earlier when asking about what would happen after she pulled free the wire. "You're asking me why I'm so interested in your suits?"

"Well…" Stark said, pausing on his words and thinking it over before giving an inclination of his head in confirmation. "Yes."

"Honestly? Because I think they're amazing and beyond fascinating," Allie replied truthfully, unabashed and unashamed to show her admiration towards Stark's creations and gimmicks. She wasn't going to pretend to think they were lame or uninteresting because they were far from it and she was _dying_ to know how one could even set about creating one, how it even worked but knew there would be no amount of time on Earth for her to ever fathom it. "I can't even begin to think how they could work or how someone even manages to create one."

"It's not a revolutionary idea," Stark told her, brushing off her words and praise as if it were natural for him to do so. "I've taken what the armour of what knights used to wear, glorified it and just stuck a load of weapons on them."

"But it's so much more than that!" Allie burst, unable to believe that he thought so little of what he created, causing Stark to turn to her, shocked at her outburst and Allie shook her head, trying to form her thoughts into a proper sentence. "I mean, no one else has ever managed to replicate what you've made – which just _proves_ how amazing it all is!"

There was a pregnant pause at her words and Allie should have known from the look on the face, how slowly he began to grin, that he wasn't going to take it as a compliment without trying to tease her. Stark turned to her face on, his voice cooing towards Allie – to her dismay, he looked frighteningly pleased and absolutely beside himself. "Aw, you're a fan of Iron Man."

Allie gave a splutter and a scoff, arms over her chest and turning away but she could feet the warmth in her cheeks, facing away from him but she could hear the sound of his chair moving around to where she was leaning on the table, a boyish grin on his face. It only made her turn even more red and defensive at the sight of the look on his face. "I am not."

"Want me to sign something for you?" He joked, elbow resting on the back of his chair and cheek against his fist, eyes positively alight with amusement at the whole ordeal and with Allie's words. She attempted to glare but knew it would have no effect on him – if anything, it would spur him on even more.

"No," Allie grunted, voice a void but it did little to deter Stark.

"' _Dear Allison, you rock! Your number one fan, Iron Man.'"_

"If I put that up on e-bay, I could be a millionaire," Allie shot back and Stark looked affronted at her suggestion.

"You _wouldn't_!" He gasped and a smirk slithered its way onto her face, her hand on his shoulder as she gave an almost sympathetic smile.

"Oh, I most definitely would."

"I'm priceless," Stark sighed as Allie retracted her hand once more, ignoring just how _warm_ he was compared to her. Maybe that was how he was able to withstand the coldness of the place.

"Not if I try hard enough."

"My _knowledge_ is priceless," he repeated.

"Okay, Mr. Stark," Allie complied, standing up and turning to go back to her normal workspace. "As you say, Mr. Stark."

"Wait," Stark called, making Allie turn to face him once more as he motioned for her to return to her previous space and Allie obeyed, watching him root around for a moment before retrieving what he was looking for; he handed them to Allie, her hands barely holding onto to the two objects as she examined them, finding them to be a magnifying glass and a small torch. She stared at them, confused, before turning her gaze upwards to Stark in order to get an explanation but he was walking away, going elsewhere to pull another chair from the other side of the room and dragging it back to where Allie stood. Sitting down on the new chair he had pushed into the desk, Stark nudged the one he sat on before towards her and Allie took it, ignoring how warm it was and how it seeped in through her clothes. "I need your help for a minute. Hold these there, will you?"

Without warning, and to her surprise, Stark took her hands and positioned them gently over what he was working on, each object in Allie's hand as he did so; she was forced to scoot herself in closer and there was an unbearable burning in her face and Allie was worried he might glance over to see her face on fire but he simply placed her hands in the way that he needed, using the light from the small torch to help him see better as he looked through to magnifying glass to better his view of the dismembered arm of the suit that was pulled open, spilling everywhere.

Allie was unsure, uncertain of what to do or say, tongue tied and staring down at the top of the desk in order to avert her gaze elsewhere because she didn't know where she was actually supposed to look and didn't want to end up staring at Stark and making it all uncomfortable. She attempted to angle herself away as much as she could but not too far so that she would have to stretch her arms as Stark remained oblivious to Allie's predicament, working silently and he was squinting to see better, like what Allie would do when she would be without her glasses.

Allie felt positively _weird_ and felt even weirder for feeling weird because there was nothing to feel weird about but it was so _weird_ and she wasn't used to being this close to Stark, wasn't used to feeling the wash of his breath over the back of her hands or his hand nudging hers down and upwards wherever he needed them to be. Allie's teeth gnawed on her bottom lip as she tried to concentrate on whatever he was doing as he picked and pulled apart the piece despite the fact she had absolutely no idea what he was doing. She felt tongue tied, mouth clamped shut and there was a quickness in her chest, tossing glances through her eyelashes at Stark as she tried to remember of what she had to do that day, of all the e-mails and calls that she had to reply to.

But her eyes became glued to the side of Stark's face as it was the most eye catching thing in their small world at the moment and he was _everywhere_ ; she could smell his cologne, the faint scent of metal and leather creeping in and there were the waves of his steady breathing that crashed and caught on the skin of the back of her hand. The stubble on his jaw was tidier, more shaped and the ends of his hair had a tweak to it, a promise of curling if he allowed it to grow longer. It was messy at the moment, as it usually was when they weren't going anywhere, and it was a mop on the crown of his head, ends catching on his temple and around the curve of his ear. His nose twitched, a small sniffle, and Allie watched as it scrunched up, small crinkles around his eyes and nose appearing at his doing so before smoothing out once more. The light was catching on his eyes and making them appear warmer, more golden and honey than anything; he nudged at her hand again, making it move down but Allie was only half aware at Stark doing this, too caught up in her study of the man to take notice.

He had thick eyelashes, too, though they were not long and whenever he was concentrating a frown would form on his lips, creases on his forehead appearing if was ever deep in thought; he seemed to have a habit of chewing on the inside of his cheek, making it dip and cave in whenever he did so and Allie watched him lean in closer, trying to see better through the magnifying glass she held, his breath burning her and nearly making her jump.

Allie knew Stark was handsome, she wasn't blind, but she never really got to see him so up close, so near as before to actually _realise_ how handsome Tony Stark was.

"So, how long have you been interested in them?"

Allie blinked, eyes focusing back in and was horrified to find herself staring at Stark, unaware of doing so and felt embarrassed at having become so distracted. She gave a cough, glad that Stark was seemingly ignorant of Allie staring at him, preferring to focus on his work rather than acknowledging Allie's hazy gaze from beforehand; it took Allie a moment to remember how to speak, peeling her tongue from the roof of her mouth and sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth. _Come on, Allison, get your shit together._ "What, your suits?"

"No, computers," he explained and Allie's mouth parted, brow drawn together as she shook her previous confusion from her mind, the geas she was under now disappearing and freeing her mind so that she would be able to form a proper response.

"I wouldn't say I'm interested. I just like working with them. I started when I was little," Allie told him, trying to keep as tight lipped as she could. She always hated this, always hated people asking her these types of questions because it made her panic, made her feel as if they knew more than they were letting on. She forced herself to keep a neutral tone and to remain nonchalant, knowing that she was terrible at acting but trying her best anyway. If she pretended all was fine, then all would be fine. "There really wasn't much for me to do as a kid and I didn't like playing with the other kids around us."

It felt sad saying it out loud, however much truth there was to it but Stark remained unaware, unbothered by it but seeming interested enough to ask and to keep the conversation going, something which Allie was partially grateful for and partially dreading. She then heard the whispers of Mrs. Krüger and how she had told Allie that, when he was a child, Stark had little to no friends and how no one even wanted to play with him. It felt wrong to have this piece of information, to know it without his consent.

"You said it was your brother who taught you?" He asked and her mouth became drier, cotton wool shoved down her throat as her hands gripped the objects in her palms the bit tighter, the grooves in the handles pressed to her skin. She had hoped he wouldn't remember, would not have been bothered enough to ask and Allie found herself wishing that they were back in silence, that she was back to feeling weird and awkward. "Lift that up a bit, will you?"

Allie complied and raised her hand a bit and Stark muttered a thanks, waiting for her reply. Her jaw was clenched and Allie was relieved that Stark's gaze was elsewhere and not on her face as she knew he would pick up on her change in demeaner. "He helped me a lot. He always loved computers and whenever he was home he would be on it."

That seemed to catch his attention and Stark stopped, turning to her with a raised eyebrow and seeming for more interested now. It made Allie's stomach tie itself in knots and that lump in her throat formed, tight and choking and making it difficult for her voice to push past it. "Whenever he was home?"

"He didn't…" Allie began, shifting in her seat and trying not to shrink beneath Stark's gaze, feeling as if she was the suit now, being picked apart with his eyes and her tongue ran over her lips, swallowing the lump made up of all the words she wished she could say that was strangling her at the base of her throat. "He didn't really like being around my parents."

There was a look in Stark's eyes, one she thought might have been understanding and he gave a nod to her words. "Where is he now?"

"He's…" Allie drifted off, tongue tied and trying to very hard not to be so obvious; the words were sitting on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be said however much Allie dreaded saying them, dreaded hearing them in her own voice because it never sounded like her voice, never sounded like her. "He's not around anymore."

"Oh," Stark breathed, staring at her as Allie cast her gaze downwards to the ripped apart arm, trying to not think of it as being real, tried not to think of it bleeding, gushing and spilling everywhere. She hated feeling like this, hated having to say the words over and over again but knowing it was the truth, knowing that there were no other words she could use to explain it all to another person. "I'm sorry."

"It's been years and we weren't that close to begin with," Allie rushed, wishing to plough pass this topic of conversation as quickly as she could; Allie always hated, _hated_ talking about family and talking about the past because she didn't like looking back, didn't like having to remember that car crash that was her childhood because it wasn't her, it was a disconnected part of her that she had long since left in the dust and it didn't make up the person she was even if it had a hand in guiding her to be the woman she was today. Her leg jittered, bouncing from where she sat and her knee was brushing up against the side of Stark's ever so slightly, the touch ghosting the other as she did so. "As we got older it got worse and he was hardly ever home."

"I guess siblings are like that sometimes," Stark agreed, as if sensing her discomfort on the subject and turned back to what previously held his attention. "Not that I would know."

"You were an only child?" Allie asked, though finding herself already knowing the answer; but it was rather asking a question she already knew the answer to in order to keep the flow of the conversation going or risk relapsing back into the previous subject.

"Unfortunately. It had its perks, I guess," Stark revealed, sitting back but there was a frigidness in his voice, as if he detested the talk of his childhood as much as she did but he did not relent in telling her. "Not many, but some."

"And is that what got you into… all of this?" Allie inquired, gesturing with a nudge of her head aimlessly to the suits he had and Stark clicked his tongue, fingers drumming on the top of the table, a rhythm Allie couldn't discern.

"Kids get bored and kids get lonely," he shrugged casually. "Plus, the Lego weren't that fun when you built all you could that was allowed by its limited plastic."

"Well," Allie grinned, teasing. "Not every kid is a genius."

"Don't I know it," Stark sighed dramatically, as if it had been some big burden for him to bear, as if he was an Atlas in his own right for being intelligent. "I hated being around people who weren't as smart as me or were insistent on treating me like the six year old I was."

Allie stared at Stark, trying to see him not as he was but as he used to be: a young, temperamental child but she found it quite hard to believe, to even picture; an echo came to mind, words that suspiciously sounded like they belonged to that wicked witch Mrs. Krüger, of how she described Stark as a child who would cry endlessly, mocking him for being emotional. It was hard to connect the description to the man that sat before her and Allie couldn't help but wonder what it was that turned him from the sort of child to cry over anything to… this. Not that there was anything wrong with him, of course, but he seemed to try and brush everything off with a sarcastic comment, to delve into work and tinkering to keep himself distracted.

Allie glanced at him, watching him heave a sigh and she squinted her eyes from behind her glasses, trying to conjure up the image of six year old Tony Stark in her mind, putting the pieces of information that had to a thought of him being young and temperamental, throwing tantrums and getting beet red in the face. The image of it all pulled a giggle from Allie and she clamped her mouth shut but not before Stark heard her, eyes darting towards her, untrusting and narrowed.

"You're laughing, why are you laughing?"

"I'm just – sorry," Allie trying to explain, pushing the need to giggle at the thought of six year old Tony Stark getting angry. "I was thinking of you being six years old and throwing a big temper tantrum."

Stark gave a snort, scoffing as he pulled himself up straighter in his seat, whatever he was working spitting sparks but now forgotten on the table as Allie placed the small torch and magnifying glass down on the table, arms slightly stiff and sore from holding them out for such a long period of time. "I was an adorable child so I got away with it."

"Oh, I don't doubt it – not to mention only kids can get away with _anything_."

"Well, I didn't get away with _everything_ – just most stuff."

"Did you bat your eyelashes to get what you want?"

"How do you think I made it this far in life?" He asked and Allie pretended to be deep in thought, to show that she was putting in some serious consideration at his query, before grinning at her conclusion.

"By being more than just a pretty face?"

Stark whipped his gaze to her, blinking at her words as a smile slithered across his smile, not aware of the sparks that were becoming worse as the burst in small puffs, ends of wires becoming life with embers and Allie stared wide eyed at it while Stark remained oblivious to it all. "So you think I'm pretty?"

Another shower of sparks sent Allie reeling back, trying to get out of the burn zone while the legs of her chair screeched against the ground, sound harsh to the ear as her arms flailed to protect her face from being burned. Only at her reaction did Stark turn and realise what was happening, cursing beneath his breath but remaining unconcerned as he leaned over it once more, trying to pick it apart and Allie let out an exclaim of concern, trying not to think what would happen if he got a splash of sparks in his face. "Mr. Stark, careful!"

"It's fine, it's okay," He reassured, gripping whatever it was that was causing the malfunction and pulling it free with a little effort, the sparks dying down and Allie released the breath she was holding, as Stark threw the scrap piece away, calm and composed. "I have it under control."

"My life just flashed before my very eyes."

"How was it?" He questioned.

Allie pondered on the thought before pulling a face. "Boring."

"I don't doubt it," he muttered, that boyish smile once more on his face.

"Sticks and stones, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed, slumping down and pushing her fallen glassed back up the bridge of her nose, tongue clicking behind her teeth as she gave a disapproving shrug. "Sticks and stones."

"Should I pay some compliments to cushion the hurt?" He offered, voice taking a faux comforting tone.

"How about some extra money?" Allie snorted and Stark gave an unbothered shrug.

"Okay."

Allie blinked at his agreement and pulled herself up into her seat. "No, wait, I was joking – please don't pay me even more money. I don't want you to end up bankrupt."

"You don't like money?" He questioned, disbelieving her words and Allie shook her head in disagreement,

"Oh, no, I like money. I just like _earning_ my money," Allie explained, not wanting to go too into depth about her weird belief. She hated living off of the money of others, hating having always to be dependent.

"How about I pay you back in some more lessons later this evening?" Stark offered and Allie's voice died in her throat, the words she was going to retort with dying at his suggestion. He remained unruffled and he had said it so naturally, as if it were such a normal thing for a boss and employee to do. She did like learning more and even highly enjoyed the small lessons he indulged her in but they usually only lasted for an hour or two, not enough for her to actually do or learn that much, or so she thought. "You're getting better than you used to be."

"This evening?" Allie repeated, unsure if she had heard him right. "As in, later after work?"

"Why?" Stark asked, turning to her with a grin on his face. "Have better things to do besides spending time with your boss?"

"Would it be sad if I said no?"

He pulled a face and gave a small nod of the head. "Kind of."

"Well, I'm sad either way. Sure, why not?" Allie relented, giving in and finding herself not to be as bothered as she thought she would be.

Truth be told, she didn't actually have anything planned for the evening – she never did. She supposed Lisa would be home that bit later than her but the two were usually so knackered by the end of the day that they usually ended up passed out in bed without being able to talk to the other. Allie found herself having dinners by herself more and more and she usually decided to get her breakfast in coffee places or convenience stores, electing that an extra fifteen minutes in bed was far better than having a soggy bowl of cereal in the morning; the only sacrifice was that she wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with Lisa in the morning.

Now that Allie thought about it, it had been a while since the two even had a proper conversation; in the month and a half that she had been working for Stark, she was finding herself being more and more present here rather than at home, leaving earlier for work and leaving later for him. It had been unconscious, of course, but still, the sudden realisation made Allie pause. Since when had work become more important than her friendships?

Allie shook her head, discarding all those niggling thoughts that were worming their way into her brain and planting seeds of worry to sit straighter in her chair, turning to Stark with a determined look as an idea passed through her head. "But in return you have to check out the e-mails that you've been ignoring from me."

"But…" Stark began, sitting back into his chair and nose scrunched up, confused and puzzled. "I'm doing this as a favour, so why do I need to do that?"

"Because it would make you the best boss in the entire world?" Allie sang, grinning pleasantly and her voice was sweet, eyelashes fluttering and hands clutched together with her fingers entwined over her chest, just where her heart was in hopes of having Stark agree to her request.

"So you're saying I wasn't before?" Stark asked, unaffected by her sweet demeaner and cocking an eyebrow at Allie, making her retreat back into her real self and not the sickly sweet personality she would have to don in her old job or whenever she wanted something that Lisa was reluctant to give up.

Allie pursed her lips together in order to stop a smile spreading across her lips. "No comment."

Stark turned to her, looking like a puppy that got kicked. "Ouch."

"Okay, you're not _that_ bad," Allie reassured, shaking her head and the wounded puppy look fell from Stark's face at her doing so instantaneously. Allie stopped her fiddling with the small bent piece of metal and placed it back onto the table, stretching her legs but finding that the position wasn't comfy unless she slumped in her chair in order to reach the ground that bit more. "I've had worse."

"How much worse?" Stark asked, narrowing his eyes at her words and Allie paused, sifting through the files in her mind of all the horrible experiences she's ever had during her life as a worker; there were far too many for her to count but there was one that stood out the most, making her grimace at the memory.

"One used to keep walking into the girls' bathroom 'by accident' whenever one of us used to be in it," Allie explained, nearly cringing at the memory and suppressing a disgusted induced shiver that ran through her; at her words, Stark stared at her, the look of revulsion that was on his face very similar to the one masking Allie's. The woman gave a nod of confirmation and Stark's face knotted itself together even further at being told this. "Yes, exactly."

"Alright, I'll do it," he said, waving her words off and rolling his shoulders, stopping his tinkering for a moment and pulling a face as if reminded by something truly horrible waiting and lurking at the back of his mind before giving a shrug. "It's been a while and I've been meaning to check my inbox anyway."

"How long is a while?"

Stark paused in his actions at her words, as if putting some serious thought to the question and scrunched up his face, turning to Allie with eyebrows drawn together with a crease forming between them. "How long ago has it been since 2013?"

"Dear God, and I thought I was bad," Allie snorted, not caring to think of the thousands upon thousands of e-mails that were sitting in her inbox, waiting to be opened but knowing it would never come to pass mainly because Allie simply dreaded having to sort through the mess, afraid she might delete something that turned out to be very important – but obviously not important enough as it would be sitting there for months on end with no reply forwarded.

"It's going to be a nightmare," Stark sighed, heaving his shoulders and exhaling deeply but turned to Allie, a mischievous and teasing smirk on his face. "But anything for my favourite assistant."

Allie gave a deadpan stare. "I'm your _only_ assistant."

A grin lit up his face, bright and splitting across his mouth instantly at her words and he waggled a finger at Allie from where he sat, leaning in further as he did so. That tongue tied feeling from before returned and her tongue suddenly felt too big for her mouth, cheeks too warm as she found it hard to keep the eye contact up, trying to ignore the stilted breath that caught in her throat as he grinned at her. "My _favourite_ only assistant _._ "

Allie couldn't help but give a roll of the eyes, a snort in response but, truth be told, she didn't mind that much, didn't find herself all that bothered by the prospect of staying behind a few hours; in fact, if she were to think about it, part of her almost would much rather stayed here in his company than face going home.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

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 _ **spacevoyage: thank you so much! i love writing about tony and allie's relationship because there are a lot of similarities between them but they have a lot of differences between them too. i just honestly love writing every interaction they have just as much as you guys love reading it! thank you so much and i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the last!**_

 _ **pinkeye: oh my god thank you so much! i really love writing about tony and i can't wait to get back into his head and pov again (which may or may not be very very soon...). And last chapter was such a turning point for Allie because she realises just how much of a good man he is and how much he's done for everyone and he doesn't deserve all the horrible comments people make about it. though it's early stages, they definitely care for each other because you don't spend hours on end with someone nearly every day of the week without forming some form of attachment. they really do deserve all the happiness coming their way! (though they might have to suffer a bit for it...) thank you so so much for your support and kind words and for always showing your love for this fic!**_

 _ **guest: thank you! i love tony so so so much and i always have loved him and always will love him; i guess this fic is just a love letter to him? if marvel won't give him the love he deserves then i'll do it myself. thank you so much for reading and enjoying the fic!**_

 _ **FlyMeToTheMoon: thank you so much! i've always loved the fact that tony is just as human as the rest of us and i was so disappointed when the MCU basically retconned his mental illness or reduced it to just "oh ya he's scared bc aliens". Marvel can honestly tear my baby boy recovering from his mental illness from my bare hands. thank you so much and im glad you've enjoyed the fic so far!**_

 _ **eden: hadkjfak THANK YOU! last chapter was such a turning point with regards to allie's perception of tony and im glad you enjoyed it! allie is by no means supposed to be a perfect person and she makes mistakes and has flaws but that's what makes her HER - just like tony being a flawed human being who makes mistakes but he learns from them and always tries to better himself because of them and, honestly, that's why i love him so much because he doesn't pretend to be better than everyone, he doesn't go around pretending to know what's best for everyone and i will always love him for that. there is no force on this earth that can make me ever hate tony stark and i would fight to the last man to defend him. thank you so so so much for reviewing and leaving words of support! they always mean a lot to me!**_

 _ **LordSkyjacker: thank you! truth be told i'm kinda shocked about how much has happened but i think it's more so to do with the fact im updating so frequently. usually i would probably update once a every three months but i'm actually proud that i've been consistent so far! thank you so much for reading and dropping a comment!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you! i was genuinely so smug when allie defended tony and picked up on his discomfort - even though im the one who wrote it... but still! Allie is really learning a lot about tony and changing her perception about him and i guess you could say they're almost friends, or that they're on the path to becoming it anyways. Thank you so much for leaving a comment and for always supporting this fic!**_

 _ **SixPerfections: Thank you for the tip but my style of writing is the style im most comfortable using; i enjoy getting deep into the characters and i love breaking them down and knowing them inside and out. this is what i enjoy writing about most and, in the end, i love writing for ME; i write stories because i love seeing them play out and the side bonus is that the readers can enjoy it too. My writing has evolved a lot over the past six years and I am happy with where i am at the moment. I do hope you will continue to read and enjoy this story as you have so far!**_

* * *

 _ **i know i'm a week late but it's because i got my results out last week! and unfortunately, i didn't get my first college course choice - i was literally ONE SINGLE POINT off from being offered it. it got me down a bit and i ended up asking to defer the other course choice i was offered which is basically the same as the first but without creative writing. it got me down a bit that i wouldn't be able to do what i love but i wrote this to cheer me up and i feel immensely better now!**_

 ** _shout out to my friend who encouraged me to write this chapter when i didn't have the energy to! (he still has to read it even after asking me constantly for the link to it; he's kind of like my unofficial beta - meaning i pester him to read my fics and he always ends up doing it.)_**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	11. Chapter Ten

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 ** _ _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**__**

* * *

 ** _Chapter Ten._**

The thing about loneliness was that it could be ignored – until you were surrounded by another person by all hours of the day.

It wasn't in Tony's nature to be forgetful, he would hardly choose that word to describe himself (there was an abundance from the sack to choose from) but even he had to admit that there times where he would forget about Allison's presence. He couldn't tell which was to blame: the lack of sleep or how absorbed he was in his own world that he would sometimes forget her being there during the day. Not that he would ever admit it, of course, he didn't want her thinking the forgetfulness was simply because of being _old_ or because he was a self-absorbed egomaniac.

He just couldn't sleep.

Briefly, there was an interval where he could manage to find safety in his dreams, to be able to fall into bed and not find the sheets strangling him and choking him, wrapped around his ankles and threatening to drag him down to Hell where he belonged with the rest of his demons. Pepper tried to help, she really and truly did; there was herbal tea introduced in replacement of coffee, morning and evening meditation, she even tried to get him into yoga but he couldn't find himself being able to sit still long enough, nerves jittering beneath his skin and ready to burst free. But Tony tried, he tried for Pepper, he drank the tea, did the meditation and even did a few hours of giggly yoga with her that ended as it always did.

Their self-made peace room was untouched back in Tony's downtown penthouse and he hadn't drank herbal tea in four months.

It hadn't been Pepper's fault, hadn't been anyone's fault but his; he just couldn't sleep and he thinks the final straw had been his nightmares. Sometimes, he forgot there was a line between this reality and the one in his head and Pepper sat beside him trying to shake Tony awake and she looked so, so, _so like them_ that his hand had snatched forward and clutched at her throat. It had taken him a total of three and a quarter seconds to turn his life to dust as he held Pepper by the neck, panic and fear that had been burning through his veins smothered and there was ash in his mouth as the fog cleared and Pepper couldn't _breathe._

It took her two days after that to move out. It had taken one for them to agree to break up.

Technically, it was "taking a break" but Tony couldn't stop eyeing the hazy purple snaking around her neck, the makeup she was wearing doing little to hide it and he would rather have burned himself alive than ever risk hurting Pepper ever again.

But it just couldn't be healed by these simple distractions, the hole deep in him couldn't be patched together and he wanted to try and tell her but it was so hard and she didn't really understand how far deep in he was, how even though he wanted nothing more than to be able to sleep, to be able to have a dreamless few hours at night he just _couldn't._ He supposed it was better to keep it all on the inside, to not have her realise, to have her remain ignorant on her own choice that he wasn't even really himself anymore because she deserved more than what he was and he couldn't give her what she deserved because he couldn't even _sleep._ He didn't want to see the signs beforehand, didn't want to realise that the only thing keeping them together, keeping her from leaving him, was the fact that they didn't have anyone else – not in the sense that mattered.

He loves Pepper, he loves her so much that sometimes he thinks he might just drown beneath it all and he never thought himself to be a poet of any kind but, by God, could she make him into whatever she wanted and he would do it willingly and freely. But Pepper had given nothing but radio silence for the past four months; Tony knew she needed space, knew she needed time to think and breathe without worrying about Tony all the damn time because sometimes she didn't understand the nervousness and worry that racked Tony's mind all the time and Tony just couldn't explain it, the words piled up at the back of his throat, never to be said.

So, Tony doesn't sleep and he works.

He stays in his small space, stays hidden and locked away from the rest of the world, their prying eyes and clicking cameras and trashy headlines. He stays in his small corner away from judging whispers and wandering eyes – but most specifically, he stays away from the Avengers.

Tony doesn't think himself a coward, but he's met braver men and, truth be told, he's never been more frightened of the colour red than he has been now. He knows they haven't forgiven him, haven't really trusted him as much as they did (however little that had been in the first place) before Ultron but now it's unbearable; he lets them talk amongst themselves and he lets them gossip because, being a group like that, they don't have much else to talk about. He grins and bears it, trying to ignore his nails biting into the palm of his hand.

Tony hates the colour red.

He tries to keep himself together from falling apart but it's hard, hard to listen to Wanda laugh and speak and hum because he sees them again, sprawled and spilled out like their guts from their stomachs and _oh, God, they're dead, it's my fault, I killed them, I killed them all._ Sometimes he's bitter and he wants her _gone_ , wants her away from him because it was _her_ , her who showed him his friends dying, showed him the danger of the worlds outside of this one and she tore him down from the inside out and he hadn't had a panic attack in a year and a half but now they're all too frequent because he dreams of red now. By the time he can pull himself from his hatred driven haze, his hands are already bleeding from his curled fists and he wipes the blood on his pants, staining them. Red puts a bad taste in his mouth and he tries not to let it seep into his tone whenever Steve tries to ask him about putting Wanda's U.S citizenship through quicker.

He misses Bruce.

He never thought he would miss him this much but he does and it burns because Bruce seemed to be the only one actually understood what was going through Tony's mind half the time; it was a sort of alliance in the beginning, working together until they began whispers of Ultron. Bruce had been hesitant, he always was, because he was half afraid it wouldn't work, half afraid it would. He just never took it working but turning out terribly into account. They had panicked, wondering what went wrong, how it could possibly go wrong because they did all the calculations and tried so, so hard to make it all work out and _then it just – !_

Didn't.

Bruce despised red, hated the colour, wanted to tear it from his mind and to destroy its existence. He hated the hue more than Tony ever could and now Tony burns that flame alone. Natasha doesn't even seem all that concerned anymore, not that it bothers Tony – not truly; even if does feel like half the time that this group is no longer made up of people he knows anymore, not made up of people he can trust. He even misses Thor, for all his loudness and naivety.

Thor had been MIA since the whole ordeal with Ultron and no one had heard even a whisper from him, didn't seem bothered to because he was a god, and wasn't that what gods do? Part of Tony feels relieved to know that the god of thunder is out there, to know that there is some semblance of safety settling around them. But he had questions, so many that were piled high to a height he couldn't fathom and it seemed that Thor could be the only one who could answer them as he had before; when red had bled into Tony's mind, the nightmare that was shown was not of the same degree as the other's and they wouldn't understand if he told them that it was more than just some whispered fear, but a harsh reality that would soon come to pass. And Tony had to ask Thor, had to find some sort of answer to tack onto what he had seen because it made no sense why they had all seen a past nightmare while his was one that had not yes happened. Tony had mentioned it in passing to the god when they were alone, hands in his pockets to disguise how sweaty they were, that he had seen the downfall of mankind, of the Avengers and that it was rather _strange_ how it wasn't a dream he had been shown, but a possibility.

Serious was not a word that would oft describe the god of thunder, but it carved itself into his features, a deep set frown on his face; he had told Tony that he wasn't alone in being shown such a thing and relief flooded but was followed by a tsunami of fear, of fright. Tony wasn't one to hate being right but… seeing Thor's expression at Tony's saying so was not something he wished to see ever again. When he had left, the god had passed smiles (a tight lipped one towards Wanda but remaining friendly because he had learned to pick up the human, mundane art of pretending to like someone) and Steve and Tony had walked him out. Tony had thought it was fine now, it was all dealt with and everything would be fine.

Until Thor told him to be careful and to always be on his guard.

He might have pegged it to Thor being paranoid but Tony _knew_ and Thor knew, too. Steve didn't and he simply passed off the exchange as being nothing more than a friendly good-bye. Tony left because he needed to breathe and he couldn't stand how smothering it was being around all these people who tried to act like a team but it was made up of people Tony didn't even _know_ , couldn't even trust.

He doesn't like being around the Vision any more than he does Wanda.

Yet, it's more so sheer awkwardness than everything because it's J.A.R.V.I.S but it isn't, it's his voice but it's not. It's his personality, but it isn't because it's Vision and he's a completely different being that doesn't know Tony as J.A.R.V.I.S and Tony doesn't like being around him, doesn't like listening to his voice because it's like as if someone has torn his heart from his chest and crushed it to rubble in front of him and forced the dust down his throat, choking on it. He wonders if Vision knows – he must, he must have picked up on it because he's also J.A.R.V.I.S and J.A.R.V.I.S always knew, always was able to pick up on the subtle clues and hints that Tony desperately tried to hide because it was what he was programmed to do, what Tony had programmed into his very core. Maybe that had lingered, some semblance of J.A.R.V.I.S before the Vision and Tony didn't know if it comforted him or made him mourn the loss of one of the very few things he cared about in this world.

Once, Vision had come to see Tony, weeks after the battle in Sokovia and he was wearing _normal_ clothes, people clothes because he was a person, of sorts and he was _red_. His voice was the same, carried the same lilt and same tone and it felt as if Tony was going to choke on all the thoughts and emotions that were piling up in the back of his throat because it wasn't J.A.R.V.I.S, however much he wanted it to be. Tony imagined tying a rope around those niggling feelings and imagine pushing them off the steep cliff of the edge of his mind, down, down, down so that he would never have to have them crawling to the forefront of his mind whenever Vision would look at him, red and blue eyed. Pity or concern, there wasn't really a difference because Vision was there all the same and with that same voice. So far, the Vision was the only one of the team to be brave enough, or concerned enough, to check on Tony, to ask him if he was alright.

 _Always am,_ Tony had laughed but it sounded hollow, echoing inside of him and cracking off the shell of himself. He wasn't any better than the suits he wore and tinkered with and he hated how empty it was on the inside of both. The Vision stared, gazing at Tony with those rarely blinking and wide, ocean blues and tugged at the collar of his shirt, unused to the material but _trying_ , an effort of normality. Tony wanted to ask him, wanted to know and have those worries lessened but he _couldn't_ , couldn't force the words pass the lump in the back of his throat, clinging to the tip of his tongue whenever he managed to gather the courage.

Down here, in his world of machinery, everything outside seemed less real, and it was just another one of his nightmares to deal with alone.

Alone, as always.

And Vision had seemed unsure of how to proceed, aware of Tony but unaware of human emotions (he was only a few weeks old at the time) and turned to leave, the visit bearing no fruit; Tony couldn't breathe, wanted him to go and he was near the door when the Vision turned, a quirk of a smile on his face and Tony's fingers were stiff from how tightly they were curled in on his fist.

 _You are not a create of isolation, Tony. I would hate to see you try to mould yourself to something you are not._

But Tony had always been alone.

His parents, Pepper, even Rhodey when he was away and dedicating his life to the military. Obi, Steve.

He supposed that was why he had the brilliant idea of getting a personal assistant.

Tony had had worse ideas in the past, had carried out them as well, so he couldn't exactly lump this into being a bad spur of the moment decision. It hadn't been his intention when he went, hadn't even crossed his mind for even the briefest of moments during the ride to the location that F.R.I.D.A.Y had given; he didn't even ponder on it during those few short hours of sitting in that small and strange apartment, that young woman – Lisa, was it? – staring at him with bright green eyes, stiff and too frightened to speak, too frightened to move. He didn't even think about what he was hoping to accomplish with going there, having simply taken the excuse to do _something_ , anything to take his mind off of the previous night of restlessness and dark eyes staring at him from the deepest corners of his unconscious mind, bearing fangs and ready to pounce on Tony and tear him apart. He was just _there_ , there to do… do whatever he could think of when the moment came. Tony had always been curious, had always sought answers to questions he couldn't answer himself. He had dug up whatever he could, of course, but there was such a different from reading something online than hearing it straight from the horse's mouth.

That curiosity wasn't sated even when Allison had returned home, soaked to the bone and pale from the shock of seeing him in her living room.

Oh, no – if anything, it got _worse._

 _You are not a creature of isolation, Tony,_ Vision had told him but Tony wouldn't call it done out of loneliness – no, he preferred to think that he indulged himself in his curiosity to find out more. And when the idea of actually hiring her as an assistant came to mind, he wasn't one to push it away. It wasn't because of isolation, it was his usual inquisitive self that reared its head; she seemed positively uncomfortable at the thought of actually working for him and, despite all the logical reasons why she should, he wanted to know _why_ but couldn't ask, couldn't find it within him to ask. And he tried to brush it off, trying to make it seem like nothing could get to him but he felt somewhat frustrated, wanting to know _why_ but now allowed to know the answer; and for two weeks straight, his phone was always in arm's reach or in his back pocket, put to full volume. Just when he had entertained the thought of giving up, it rang.

 _You are not a creature of isolation, Tony_. It kept ringing at the back of his mind however much Tony wanted to push it away. He had been alone most of his life, from beginning to end; be it with his parents always away or dying, be it Rhodey and the military, Obie and running the company, Pepper and trying to make sure Tony didn't run his life into the ground fuelled on drink and drugs and when she did finally leave, Tony had always been alone. And he didn't know how to keep people whenever they wanted to stay in his life; Rhodey, bless him, tried so hard but there was always this arms width between them because Tony didn't want to end up crossing that line and making Rhodey walk out of his life however much his friend refused to do so. Obie went batshit crazy and decided Tony was better off dead than running his own company and Pepper…

If Vision hadn't said those damned words, Tony was pretty sure he wouldn't be haunted and pushed to this.

Allison had been right in saying she had no experience in working as a personal assistant; she floundered, unsure of what to do or even how to cope with the workload but she never complained – though he could see how much she wanted to at times. He didn't honestly expect her to actually accept the job offer, however much he wanted her to, and now that she did… he didn't really think out the kinks, to be honest.

Tony hated leaving the workshop because he didn't like being out there, with the Avengers, with the world and he felt some sense of guilt for keeping her trapped down here, working in a single small space; Pepper hated being downstairs before and she always would find somewhere else to work, somewhere with lots of light and air and clean. Tony even felt somewhat _sheepish_ at the state of the place but never once did a comment leave Allison's mouth about how much of a mess everything was, at least one that was meant in a way that wasn't sarcastic or intended as a friendly jab; he had forgotten how much of himself he had to hide now that she was around the place all the time and it was… strange. Tony didn't like showing so much of himself and tried to hide away most of the time, stuck beneath a car or working on his suits in hopes that she would just forget he was there and go about her day.

Only she didn't.

There were times when he would hear a click of a heel and in his mind, it was Pepper, Pepper who was reprimanding him about never answering e-mails, Pepper trying to get him to leave the place instead of dying amidst the mess, Pepper smiling at him and laughing at his stupid jokes. But it wasn't Pepper and it felt _wrong_ to lump Allison into the same category as Pepper because she was young and didn't need to carry the baggage Tony held on his shoulders, all too much an Atlas in his mind. She didn't need to have those expectations shoved on to her and tried to be as disconnected as possible because sometimes he forgot Pepper wasn't there and the faint smell of perfume hurt, a deep rooted ache in his chest.

She was young and, oh, how Tony wished to be that young so he wouldn't have to deal with these chasm deep aches burned into his bones, his mind. Though, Tony supposed he wasn't any that better when he was younger, he just ignored his problems by trying to burn them away with drink and sleep and it only ended in a sore, pounding head that was reminiscent of when Howard Stark would knock his fist across Tony's temple when he was younger from crying too much or refusing to be compliant.

Sometimes, the monsters in his nightmares weren't all deformed and screeching, but towering over him and with a belt in one hand, eyes fiery and made from steel.

Tony doesn't mean to be a recluse, to shut himself away from the outside world but sometimes he just can't help it, doesn't want to think of the big blue above him and how it might tear open at any moment, spilling and gushing everywhere and there was so much _space_ around him when he went outside, so much so that it made him feel trapped, that he wouldn't be able to find cover if something did happen. And Tony remembers that damned painting, the great void on the canvas and how its gaping maw was ready to snap him up; he had thought he was over it, but seeing it once more, seeing it in all its darkness and emptiness seemed to suck all the air from him and his hands had been shaking and all he could think of was falling, falling in the darkness and through the stars.

And then there had been a hand on his arm and Tony was pulled from the drowning sea of static that was his thoughts and he saw concerned blue staring at him.

Tony couldn't remember the last time someone had seen him in such a state; Rhodey was always worried and Tony didn't want to worry him more so he hid it, tucked it away and Pepper… Pepper floundered, unsure of what to do and so he hid that away too. He tried to do the same to Allison but he saw the way she pursed her lips and when she went to go, a sudden, overflowing fear flooded his veins at the prospect she might actually _leave_ him in this state. She had tried to be reassuring but, whether she knew it or not, Allison was a terrible liar.

But Tony was grateful. Eternally so because she had pulled him from the prospect of breaking down so quickly and efficiently that he managed to quash it down before it could overtake him.

And it made him even more curious because she _knew_ , knew in a way that Pepper didn't and in a way Rhodey had only seen before and he could feel all those questions grow to an unstable height, a make shift Jenga that was so towering that at any minute it was going to topple because Tony needed to know how she knew, how she managed to pick apart the trembling hands and shaky breathing and _know._

He wanted to chalk it up to empathy, or maybe that it was because he was overtly obvious about his anxiety attacks but…

A strange habit of Allison's that Tony couldn't help but notice was how she always ended up tying back her hair; it wouldn't matter if she came to work with it down, within an hour it was tied up and he wanted to ask why she just didn't tie it up straight away in the morning but stopped himself from doing so in case it might sound _inappropriate._ But it was a small, pattern of a larger practise that Tony began noticing because when two people spent all hours together in one room during the week, you couldn't _not_ pick up on their strange customs. Allison always managed to arrive late within a span of one to two minutes and rarely seemed abashed but it was a game Tony enjoyed, enjoyed waiting around and looking at the time tick away on the watch strapped to his wrist and anticipating for the moment the hands of the small face of the clock would move past the time she should be there. Not that he would ever tell Allison that he actually waited every morning to be able to tell her off for being late, he would never live it down.

And now was no different as Tony sat on his stool, swinging himself back and forth impatiently; last night had been no exception to his restlessness, gathering a total of four and a half hours of sleep throughout the night, tossing and turning and finding the sheets wrapped around him all too like the suffocating blackness that had choked the air from his lungs and he had been in the workshop since before the crack of dawn, trying all he could to keep his mind and body occupied, feeling undoubtedly relieved at the prospect of Allison arriving in a few short hours because he needed distractions, craved and there were times he could see that she had an inkling, would stick to him like a shadow and dogging his heels and he was glad that there was someone else now because at least he could focus on a voice that was different to the ones that were haunting him.

So, he sat, waiting and looking through his phone so as to not seem like he was sitting around actually waiting for Allison when he heard a soft _ping_ of the elevator; moving quickly, Tony turned himself into one of his work tables and picked up the first thing he could find, trying at least appear busy to some extent and maintain an air of nonchalance as he heard footsteps echo throughout. Tony took a quite glance at the time on his phone, surprised at the fact she was actually early as he ignored the rather blank background he had for his lock screen. It used to hold a picture of Pepper but it would hurt too much to look at it so now it held a standard, built in background with curves and hues of blue; quickly, Tony shoved the phone back into his pocket and cleared his throat, fiddling with the small piece between his hands.

"Wow, you're actually early for once – and by fifteen minutes!" Tony called out, keeping eyes focused on what he was pretending to busy with as the footsteps drew closer, placing what was in his hands down onto the top of the table and turning to face Allison. "Would it be too much to – Oh, Rhodey. You're – "

"Not who you were expecting?" It was Rhodey, dressed casual and in civilian clothes, holding a friendly smile on his face as Tony stared, quite shocked to see his friend down here. Rhodey always tried to keep contact with Tony whenever he was abroad on missions but it wasn't unusual if there were times where the two of them could go weeks without talking. But even so, a visit seemed rather out of the blue and Tony felt was surprised to see his friend before him; the last time he had heard from Rhodey had been back in July and even then, it was for a few minutes. But it didn't mean that Tony wasn't delighted to see his best friend, standing to his feet and grinning wildly as he walked over to Rhodey, taking the other man into a brief hug, pulling back with a hand clapped onto Rhodey's shoulder.

"A pleasure to see you too, old friend. No 'how are you, Tony?'" Tony teased as Rhodey gave a roll of the eyes, shaking his head at Tony's baiting.

"How are you, Tony?" Rhodey asked, tone and voice light.

"Could be better, could be worse," Tony replied honestly, glad to finally see his friend after so long without a word and he withdrew his hand from Rhodey's shoulder, crossing his arms over his shoulder and Rhodey cocked an eyebrow at Tony's words, giving a nod and pursing his lips, turning around and looking around the place, taking in how it was much more organised than he had seen it when he had last been down here. The fact it was clean was due to Allison as she was half frightened to trip and break something if there was anything on the ground so she ended up making attempts to clean up what she could. The place was much more easier to walk around but it still couldn't be classified as being completely clean.

Rhodey moved away from Tony, hands stuffed into his pockets and Tony could tell from his friend's stance that it wasn't just a friendly visit, however much he wanted it to be and he shuffled on the spot. However much Tony protested, Rhodey always seemed to be worried for him, as if the next time he would walk down here, he would find Tony lying face first on the floor, unmoving. Rhodey turned to him, giving Tony that _look,_ the one whenever he would catch Tony on the verge of an anxiety attack and Tony bristled beneath it because it made him feel like he was weak, weaker than he was. Stark men were made of steel, his father had told him, but Tony felt brittle, rusted and tried to keep that smile on his face, ignoring how it creaked and ached.

"Well, _I've_ been trying to call you for the past few days and you haven't been answering," Rhodey said, half accusing, half wondering as he stared at Tony with that all too familiar concerned look that was always prominent on Rhodey's face because he _knew_ but only because he had seen it before. Tony gave a half-hearted shrug but tried to appear like he wasn't disconnected, like his only contact to people had been Allison for the past few weeks.

"Sorry, been busy doing things," Tony explained, unrooting his feet from their spot and making his way back to the work table, wanting to find anything to ease the jitteriness that was rushing beneath his skin because he now knew why Rhodey was here; Tony loved Rhodey, he did, but he could take care of himself, he always did. Rhodey gave a hum, drawing Tony's attention to him as his friend crossed his arms over his chest in that same disapproving manner that had been often during their younger years, whenever Rhodey would stumble across Tony's hungover self, lying sprawled in a fancy, king sized bed with a stranger next to him.

"Yes, I've seen."

At that, it was Tony turn to appear inquisitive, facing Rhodey with a curious look on his face but retaining that teasing smirk on his face. "That's quite creepy, can I ask how?"

"That charity art show," Rhodey told him and Tony cursed in the back of his mind but attempted to not let it seep onto his features, simply clicking his tongue and sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth. Rhodey's eyes narrowed on Tony's response and it made the latter worry, wonder if someone had caught onto him nearly having a full on break down before Allison managed to get him out of there. "I didn't know you went to that until I saw it on the headlines."

That _did_ surprise Tony, wondering how on Earth someone managed to even pick up on his presence when he had only been there for a few hours and kept a seemingly low profile. "That's still creepy and something I didn't know. It wasn't anything and you would have hated it."

"You probably hate them more than me," Rhodey chuckled and Tony gave a breathy laugh in agreement.

"You aren't wrong."

There was a pause as the two stared at each other, Tony watching as all traces of joking drained from Rhodey's features and there it was again: that damned concern that seemed to be prevalent in his friend's face. It made Tony itch because it wasn't that he was annoyed at Rhodey for being concerned (Rhodey had more than enough reasons to be so) but it made him feel as if that he was always doing something wrong, that he was still that twenty-something year old who was always too busy drinking and partying to do anything with his life. Rhodey gave a cough, his stance straight from all the years of having it drilled into him. Tony slumped against the lip of the table, hands curled into fists at the bottom of his pockets as Rhodey spoke, voice soft and low. "The team's been missing you, you know. They've gone a couple of missions without you."

"I'm sure they'll survive," Tony brushed off, trying to not let the sheer discomfort he felt appear on his face because he didn't want Rhodey to think he was coward, to know he hated the colour red and that he still couldn't sleep at night because of it, because of the void that had swallowed him whole. Tony bit his tongue to stop those words from falling loose and gave a strained smile. "Rogers was always a better leader than I was a follower."

"You haven't had time for missions, but you've had time for art shows?" Rhodey asked, eyeing Tony as he gave a scoff, shaking his head and trying to appear light, as if he wasn't so bogged down by the nightmares he had to wade through every night. Rhodey was a soldier, he would have understood, but Tony wasn't a soldier, he was just… him.

" _Charity_ art shows," Tony clarified. "You know, the one where you buy stuff so they can build hospital for children."

"Since when do you do charity shows?"

"Since I got a personal assistant," Tony said without a moment's hesitation and Rhodey blinked in surprise, as if the words that Tony said being the last thing he would have expected. There was a brief silence, Rhodey trying to gather his thoughts after all other ways this conversation could have gone went out the window. It wasn't that big of deal – before Pepper, Tony used to go through assistants faster than he could drink; though, he supposed to the only surprise was that Tony had one after going nearly five years without having one employed.

"And for how long has that been thing?" Rhodey asked, genuinely curious and that look of concern was no longer on his face, his stiff and straight stance melting into something more comfortable, like when he was less Colonel James Rhodes and when he was Rhodey, just Rhodey and Tony's friend.

"Oh, for about…" Tony drifted, screwing his face up and trying to recount the days in his mind. It didn't feel as if Allison had been here long but he knew it was his exhausted brain playing tricks on him, trying to quickly count the days and weeks in his mind before coming to a reasonable answer in his head that seemed to fit the timeline. "A month and a half."

"What made you decide to get one?" Rhodey further inquired and Tony squirmed, unsure of the answer himself because he didn't really _decide_ so as much as jumping on the idea as soon as it popped into his head at last minute. Not that he wanted Rhodey to know that, of course; Tony was already thought of as being too impulsive already and he wanted to at least have some appearance of being a responsible adult.

Tony shifted, shuffled and dropped his gaze to his shoes and scrambled his brain for a half truth because he felt bad about lying to Rhodey, hating doing so because Rhodey was the only person in the world he could fully trust at the moment; Tony gave a limp lift of the shoulders, settling for a sad, unhappy half lie that he knew would once more garner Rhodey's concern for him yet again. He wished Allison were here so he would have some form of a distraction, so that he wouldn't have to have Rhodey's eyes staring at him with that look again, the one that he knew and despised because Tony was a Stark man and Stark men were made of steel. "Just… About time I get myself together, y'know?"

Rhodey's face dropped in understanding and Tony's stomach tightened itself into knots, nooses for him to choke on. "You haven't heard from Pepper?"

"No. It's not as if she has time, anyway. She's a CEO, she runs a company and has a lot for doing," Tony quickly rushed, not wanting to linger on the subject, on the woman because it _hurt_ and he didn't need to remember how blank the screen of his phone was now. Tony looked up and there it was, the gut twisting look on Rhodey's face; before Tony could stop himself, a sigh left him, words snapping. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" Rhodey asked, the sharpness of Tony's words bouncing off of him because he had put up with worse, had been through worse with Tony.

"That _look_."

"What look?"

"That sad, pitying look, Rhodey," Tony explained, exasperated and trying to ignore the dull aches of pain that flooded through him as his nails bit into the palm of his hand, scarlet half-moons.

"I don't have a sad pitying look," Rhodey defended but Tony merely scoffed, shaking his head.

"You do and you're looking at me with it."

Rhodey didn't retort, staring at Tony and taking in the sight of him, in all his messy and ruffled glory of knotted curls on his head and oil stained jeans, to the splashes of violet that stained the skin beneath Tony's drooping eyes. He really, really, _really_ wished Allison would show up to drag him from this mess of a friendly visit. "When was the last time you slept more than six hours, Tony?"

"Listen, I'm fine," Tony sighed, trying to ignore the biting tone in his voice and hoping Rhodey would do the same. "I have everything under – "

Tony could once more hear the soft _ping_ of the elevator arriving to this level and relief flooded through him, making a mental note to do whatever Allison asked of him for the next week as a way of thanks for finally appearing and stopping this conversation from going places he didn't want it to. He could hear her fumbling footsteps, Rhodey turning to face away from Tony as the echo of her somewhat breathless voice rang through, the jingle of keys jangling.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know I'm late by three minutes but there was a big line at the coffee shop and someone was in front of me and they couldn't decide on their order and – " Allison made her way into the workshop, powering through her excuse without taking a moment to stop and take a breath, or even take sight of the other person in the room before she started speaking. Her cheeks were flushed, spotted and blotched with the tip of her nose gleaming a soft, gentle hue of red, her glasses hanging on the front of her shirt as she stopped in her footsteps, mouth clamping shut instantly as her blue eyes took in the fact there was an extra person in the room.

Tony would have hugged her right then and there for timing her entrance so perfectly and he gave a grin, pushing himself from the edge of the table to draw close to Rhodey and motioning her forward, ignoring the confused yet wide eyed look she gave him, as if looking for an explanation Tony wouldn't give. Tony wrapped an arm around the back of Rhodey's shoulders, the latter staring at Allison sharply and almost scrutinising her appearance.

"Allison, good for you to join us," Tony exclaimed, watching as Allison moved closer to the two older men, once more flashing Tony a look he knew to be a warning one as she turned pinker, reaching up to brush aside the soft curls of her hair behind her ear, embarrassed of having been sprung with a friend of Tony's without any notice. Allison gave a cough and straightened her back, trying to appear less flustered than she was.

"Oh. I, uh, I didn't know there… was going to be people – I mean, a visitor," Allison said, making Tony bite the inside of his cheek in order to stop his grin from getting any bigger. Rhodey was still silent, peering down at Allison and unmoving beneath Tony's arm that was slung around him.

"Visitors are people, too."

"That's not what I meant," Allison told him, face scrunching up and crinkles appearing along her nose at her doing so but hastily wiping away the friendly, sharp tone in her voice so as to appear professional in front of Rhodey. Before, when Tony had called her cute for standing on a box in order to help him fix his suit, he hadn't been lying.

"Allison, this is Colonel James Rhodes," Tony introduced, turning to the rather serious looking Rhodey and taking his arm back and gesturing to each at their names, standing between them. "Rhodey, this is Allison Lawrence, my assistant."

For a brief second, Tony thought Rhodey meant to appear as stony as he was then, tight lipped and expressionless but then, his friend gave a small smile, reaching forward to extend his hand in order to initiate a handshake to Allison, who appeared more than relieved at the friendly gesture, giving Rhodey a sweet, soft smile and taking his hand in hers. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's good to meet you, too, Mr. Colonel," Allison replied before her eyes bugged, nearly popping from her skull and a bark of laughter left Tony before he bit his tongue, watching as Allison took her hand back and began to turn even redder, eyes shutting themselves and sucking in a deep breath through her nose but her positively, burning face gave away whatever air of calmness she was trying to keep. Oh, this was _brilliant,_ and Tony would never let her forget it. He could practically hear her wishing for the ground to swallow her whole as Rhodey gave an amused huff of air, the two breaking apart their handshake before Allison opened her eyes. " I mean, Colonel Rhodes – not Mister… oh, God."

Allison reached up to bury her hands into her face and Tony wasn't even bothering to hide his grin anymore, standing beside Allison and beaming at Rhodey who didn't appear half as amused as Tony was, eyes darting from Allison to Tony and back again, all the while Allison groaned into the palms of her hands. Tony felt like this day couldn't get any better. "It's good to see you too, Mr. Colonel. I did enjoy your visit, Mr. Colonel."

Allison looked up from her hands, tossing him a pleading look with scarlet cheeks. From the look on her face, he might have been inclined to not tease, but she made it far too easy. "Mr. Stark…"

"Just, a moment, Allison, I need a moment to talk with Mr. Colonel," Tony cut her off and Allison went back into burying her face into her hands for another brief moment before standing straight and tossing him a rather weak glare, as if trying to appear intimidating but glad for the excuse to leave and stew in her own self induced embarrassment.

"You're the worst," she whined and Tony gave a sigh, placing a hand over his heart.

"Such sweet words, we mustn't talk like this in front of Mr. Colonel," Tony teased but it did little to draw Allison from her shame, staring at Tony with a dead pan expression and not bothering even to reply before she turned to Rhodey, who had been watching the two silently and Tony could sense that there was something rather… off about his friend, though what it was, Tony didn't know. Nor did he feel like he wanted to find out. Allison gave Rhodey another soft smile, giving a small wave of the hand.

"It was good to meet you, _Colonel_ Rhodes," Allison said, not at all as harsh as she would be towards Tony. "I'm… I'm going to just go over there."

Allison turned to go but gave Tony a sharp, half-hearted glare that Tony smiled back at, watching her go with storm clouds rolling over head. Tony turned back to Rhodey, feeling in a much happier mood than he was before she came. "That was _brilliant._ "

"Tony."

"Oh, come on, it's just a bit of teasing," Tony said, waving Rhodey's words away. "I mean, I'm still I'm never going to let her live this down."

" _Tony_ ," Rhodey bit, the sharpness in his tone making Tony turn to face him, all traces of joking and teasing leaving him as he stared at his friend, taking in the sight of the very disapproving that was carved into Rhodey's features. Tony felt his eyebrows knit together as Rhodey opened his mouth, before deciding against what he was going to say and taking Tony by the arm, drawing him further into the workshop so as to not have their voices echo back into Allison's ears. Tony watched as Rhodey stared at him with those eyes, those same judgemental eyes that had been all too prevalent all those years ago before Tony got his shit together. "You can't be serious."

"What?" Tony defended, tearing his arm from Rhodey's grip and not liking how his friend's sudden turn in mood was rubbing off of him. He knew Rhodey had his best interests at heart but sometimes, times like these, that it made him wonder if their definition of best interests were far too different.

"She's…" Rhodey began, struggling to form what he wanted to say into proper sentences, tossing a glance back over their shoulders to where Allison would be but unseen because of where they were. Rhodey turned back to Tony, drawing close and dropping his tone. "Shit, Tony, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that maybe it was about time I got my life together and a personal assistant was a good way to help me organise myself?" Tony scoffed, trying to not become even more irritated as he had an inkling of the insinuation that was lingering beneath Rhodey's words, but desperately hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was and that it was just his mind leading him to bad places again because Rhodey wouldn't do that, wouldn't think so little of him. At least, he hoped.

"Really?" Rhodey hissed. "That's why you hired her?"

Tony's eyes narrowed and he placed some distance between himself and Rhodey, staring at his friend, sapped of all mischievousness that had been present throughout their previous conversations; Rhodey returned the stare but he was waiting for something, waiting for Tony's answer to his vague question. Tony's tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth and he unpeeled it, arms wrapping around his chest in a defensive stance and trying not to seem as hurt as he felt. Anyone else, and Tony would have thrown them out but it was _Rhodey,_ his best friend, the only person he trusted with every inch of his body, Rhodey who was always there by Tony's side every step of the way. Tony tried to not get all defensive so quickly and attempted to keep a calm mind, to not rush into anger. "You know, Rhodey, being coy isn't helping anyone. What are you trying to say?"

There was a pause and Rhodey straightened himself, once more a soldier.

"She's young."

"So were we all. That's what time does," Tony shot back but the reply did little to lighten Rhodey's mood. If anything, it seemed to worsen it.

"Can I ask if you hired her because she's young and pretty or because of her abilities as an actual assistant?"

Ah.

There it was, the million dollar question.

Through the hurt Tony felt from the fact that Rhodey would instantly jump to that conclusion over all the others, he tried to remember that the conclusion was drawn from past experiences even if they were irrelevant to the man Tony was today. Tony stared, trying to find the right words to say, the words that wouldn't end up in an argument between the two; he knew, _knew_ the Rhodey was basing this assumption due to the fact it was what the old Tony would do – the _old_ Tony, as if there was a new and better version of himself in existence. Tony chewed the inside of his cheek, fists clenched beneath his arms that were around his chest and his expression was hard, stone and acting as a barrier to his thoughts.

There was no answer to Rhodey's question because, truth be told, Tony didn't know _why_ he hired Allison, even if her being pretty wasn't the answer. He could have had anyone in the world work for him that was better than her but he… he hadn't picked anyone else and it had been a spur of the moment because it was curiosity – _you are not a creature of isolation, Tony._ Had he been more sappy, he would have said the two of them were rather the same in some aspects but that wasn't wholly the truth; in the end, Tony was rather impressed with her skills and thought to see if she could push the limitations she had set for herself. It had been curiosity, boredom, impulsiveness – _you are not a creature of isolation._

But Tony couldn't tell Rhodey because if Rhodey knew what Allison had done he would be furious, angry at Tony being so reckless in giving the person who managed to breach the Avengers' security a _job_. But it had been Tony's inquisitiveness that had been the driving force – _you are not a creature of isolation._ Tony took a breath and pushed all thoughts of loneliness and isolation from his mind.

"You really think I'm that shallow? Shit, Rhodes, is that how little you think of me?" Was all Tony could reply with, an answer that was vague, not really giving Rhodey what he wanted but it was enough as Rhodey's face fell, dropping at Tony's hurt tone and reeling back. If only he knew, if only Rhodey knew that Tony was not, in fact, a creature of isolation and all he did, he did for the intense need of attention, of being _wanted_. In the back of his mind, he could hear the echo of Howard Stark's venom coated words that left more scars than his beatings.

"Tony, no," Rhodey tried to explain, sighing and exasperated. "I'm just… I'm just saying that in the past – "

"That's in the past. Rhodey, it isn't like that. She's a good worker and a good person," Tony justified, not quite feeling as if he was lying, yet he wasn't telling the truth at the same time. He hated the words that were scratched into the back of his mind by Vision and tried to ignore how they bled on the walls of his skull, seeping into his thoughts and controlling him. Tony relaxed his fists and ignored how stiff his fingers were, stretching them before stuffing them into his pockets, as he was prone to do when unsure of what to do with his hands. "I'm not some middle aged man who creeps on young women, at least I hope I'm not. I just… I wanted to get my shit together."

Tony held his voice back from saying any more, almost disgusted at the pathetic, half attempt he made at trying to defend his actions but Rhodey nodded, seemingly satisfied with Tony's answer and giving a deep exhale, lips quirking before he clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Alright. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate anything," Rhodey apologised, the relief overflowing in Tony as he released the breath that had been building up in his chest. Rhodey began to move, steering Tony with him as the two of them began to walk out. It was a shame that his friend took this all as a sign to leave because Tony _missed_ Rhodey, missed one of the very few people in the world he actually cared about. "I just wanted to drop by to see if you were alright."

"Always am," was Tony's tight lipped replied as they moved through the place, reaching up to pat Rhodey's hand that was resting on his shoulder. "It was good to see you."

"The team miss you, you know," Rhodey told him in a hushed tone. "You should think about actually talking to them every once in a while, instead of locking yourself down here."

"I'll think about it," Tony lied, knowing full well he wouldn't and Rhodey seemed to sense it too, tossing Tony a sad curve of the lips before squeezing his shoulder once more, letting his hand drop as they paused in the middle of their walk, Rhodey turning to face Allison who was currently engrossed in the screen of her laptop to have paid attention to the words passed between the two friends.

"It was nice to meet you, Allison," Rhodey said, voice much friendlier than it had been before and Allison's eyes darted from the screen of the device, blinking and no longer pink in the face and Tony smiled to himself, glad that this hadn't broken down into an argument as it could have done.

"Oh!" Allison exclaimed, a grin splitting across her face as she stood quickly to her face, eager to please and her over excitement made the curve on Tony's mouth grow wider. "You too, Colonel."

"I'll see you around, yeah?" Rhodey said to Tony, throwing a wave once more as he walked towards the elevator, calling on it as Tony gave a wave of the hand.

"Hopefully," he replied. "Bye, Rhodey."

Stepping in to the elevator, Rhodey once more passed a look between Tony and Allison, one Tony didn't quite like, as Tony sidled up to her desk before the doors closed Tony was met with clean metal, his warped reflection thrown back at him as it whirred to life. There was a moments silence, neither of the two remaining occupants moving before Tony slowly turned to face Allison, a grin slowly creeping onto his face as she refused to look at him, electing to instead stare at the closed doors of the elevator.

Without looking, Allison held up a finger, taking a breath and once more taking her seat before meeting Tony's gleaming eyes with her own pleading ones. "Don't."

"Mr. Colonel."

Allison gave a groan at Tony's words, once more burying her face into her hands and placed them onto the table, trying to hide away from Tony's shit-eating grin, her hair falling all around her in a halo of soft, brown waves and Tony leant against the edge of her desk, cheeks hurting from how much he was grinning.

"I said _don't_ ," Allison whined into her hands, voice muffled but still audible.

"I am _never_ letting this go."

"I'm going to die," she all but cried, fingers making their way up to knot into her hair, ears burning as she curled in on herself, just about resting on the lip of the cool top of the desk. Oh, to be young again and to have this be the biggest problem in life. "I'm going to die of the shame."

"There, there, it's alright," Tony sniggered, his hand reaching forward to give a consoling pat on the shoulder but his arm screeched to a halt, his own voice echoing in his head and preventing him from doing so _. I'm not some middle aged man who creeps on young women_ , he had said to Rhodey and it pulled at his arm, making Tony draw it back in awkwardness, glad that Allison was currently too distraught to notice it. His hand wavered, hovering for a moment in between before Tony drew it back, all too aware of their familiarity and he slipped off from the edge of the table, trying to maintain some space because his own words were suddenly too loud in his head. Tony cleared his throat and tried to regain some of his previous joking tone. "I'll pay for the funeral expenses."

Allison lifted her head, pouting and adopting a faux pout on her lips. Her hair was half a mess around her, flyaway strands caught in her eyelashes, on her cheek and rushed across her forehead. The pink in her cheeks was receding but lingered, spotted and splashed. She was staring at him with those big, blue eyes that were rounded with a soft, brown eyeshadow and Allison slumped in her chair, arms over her chest and the action pulled a genuine smile from Tony. "You're mean."

"It's a gift," Tony sighed, standing straight and stretching his arms over his head to dash away all the stiffness in his bones.

Allison quickly turned to her laptop screen once more, giving a scoff. "It feels like a curse."

"The best things usually are," Tony said with a wink that went unnoticed as she continued to look to her laptop and he turned to leave, hoping to find more distractions before her voice called both him and his attention back.

"Oh, by the way, here."

Tony circled and found Allison holding out a take away cup in her hand, the steam of the drink swirling up through the small mouth piece on the lid and Tony stared, confused and unsure but moving back once more to take it; her arm was outstretched and Tony felt unsure, eyes darting from the plain, white cup clutched in her hand as he, slowly but surely, extended an arm and his fingers wrapped around Allison's, the burn of the plastic being something he barely felt as she slipped her hand from underneath his slowly so as to make sure that neither of them dropped it and let it spill all over the floor.

"What's this?" Tony asked, staring at it as Allison sat right in her seat again, eyes glancing over to the younger woman who was already looking at him, brow raised.

"It's… a drink."

"I can see that," Tony retorted, bringing it to beneath his nose to catch a scent and was met with the bitter smell of coffee. His nose burned from the heat of the drink and he pulled away once more, hearing Allison give a short, small bout of laughter.

"Then why did you ask?" she teased and Tony gave a shrug, finding himself able to lean against her table once more without feeling weird because he shouldn't have to feel weird before, even though he did and it felt _weird_ to feel weird. Tony shook his head, shoving his thoughts aside and once more bringing the drink close to his mouth.

"I was curious about the contents in case it might be poison," he said nonchalantly and Allison gave a snort, rolling her eyes at his words.

"Yes, here's your steaming, morning cup of bleach," she joked before standing slightly and Tony watched her as she reached across the space between them, eyes glued to her hand as she extended a finger to tap against the lid of the cup that was close to his mouth at that moment, feeling cross eyed as she did so but unable to look away before she withdrew, unaware of her actions. _No need to feel so weird_ , Tony told himself, swallowing roughly as Allison rested in her seat once more, smiling brightly. "It's coffee, Mr. Stark, the good kind. I mean store bought is fine, sure, but that right there – that's the best."

"I thought you said you don't like coffee."

"I don't but I worked in a Starbucks for five years, I know what's good and what isn't."

"So you got me coffee to make up for being late?"

"No, I got you coffee and it's because of it that I was late," Allison explained casually, as if it were nothing to be so caught up on. "See, I was ordering my own drink and I thought _'Hey, you know who really loves coffee? Mr. Stark'_ and I bought it because I know you hadn't had your morning drink and it'll last longer than in a cup because of the cover."

That took Tony by surprise and for a moment, he was stunned speechless, looking at Allison and trying to find the proper words to respond with; normally, a thank you would have been the words a person would say in this situation but at that minute, Tony couldn't find himself to do anything but _stare_ because it was such a normal, mundane act that she had done for him yet…

The fact she had so suddenly thought of him, had done something so simple with him in mind seemed to throw Tony back more than anything; he couldn't remember the last time someone ever bought him coffee with their own money, had done it simply because they wanted to and not because he had asked him too. To say he was tongue-tied would be an apt description to describe how he felt at that moment as he withdrew the cup from his mouth. Allison remained almost unaware, ignorant and Tony floundered for a brief second before his grip on the cup tightened, half worried it might burst from how tightly he was holding it because he needed to release the _weirdness_ as he gave a teasing grin.

"Aw, you were thinking of me. That's sweet."

Allison gave another roll of her eyes but he could see the pink in her cheeks, staining, like rose petals blooming and she shook her head, looking away from his gaze and dropping her voice. "Just drink your coffee, Mr. Stark."

And Tony did drink it, taking sips of it throughout the day even when it went cold and making it last as long as possible because it really was the best coffee he had ever tasted, but for reasons he didn't want to quite fathom.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

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 _ **Chancellor S: thank you! if you're interested in more of my writing, i have an account on AO3 beneath the pseudonym 'rad_sad' and i actually have an ongoing series about peter and tony's father-son relationship as well as some other works. With regards to this story, i was intending this to be around the 40/45 chapter mark but, uh, it seems it's going to be a LOT longer. Maybe 55/60? I have 3 epilogues in mind as well so i think that this story might reach a rather long length. but i hope you continue to support and enjoy this fic as much as you have already!**_

 _ **nerdalertwarning: oh my gosh thank you! i really love writing about a tony who suffers from PTSD and anxiety because that's a tony i hold close to my heart. and i love getting into the inner workings of his mind and i thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter! i hope i managed to do him justice with this chapter but i'm still unsure. i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the past ones!**_

 ** _Lucy Strike's alter ego: you don't understand how much it meant to me to wake up and read this lovely, lovely, LOVELY review on my story; i was so astounded by your comment i have to admit i got a bit teary eyed because i never imagined i could receive such support for my fic. i dont even know how to form a proper response to your beautiful words other than: thank you, thank you so much for reading and for supporting my fic! it really really means a lot to me!_**

 ** _BeccaSco: thank you! tbh i wasn't either but honestly, when you sit next to tony stark how else are you supposed to feel? he's literally the most handsome man in the entire world - no the entire GALAXY. like, honestly allie, mood._**

 ** _pinkeye: oh my gosh, congratulations on your engagement! i really wish you and your fianceé a lifetime of happiness and i only hope that allie and tony find happiness like yours! though we'll have to see... thank you so much for supporting this fic and i hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much!_**

 ** _intata: im trying to actually form a proper response other than fhadlkfhajlfjalkfhkalhfkal to your comment but i think that aptly fits how i felt when i was on my break at work and i tried not to break down into happy squeals at reading your comment. like im actually trying to think because my mind just can't form proper thoughts at your kind words. i have thought about writing a novel before but i've always felt rather insecure about my writing and that it doesn't match up to a level that published authors have and i hoped to do creative writing in college but i missed the points needed entry by a single point. i love love LOVE breaking a character down on in the inside out and to fully display them to the reader but still retain some mystery because there's nothing more shocking than thinking you know someone only for them to reveal a part of themselves you never thought possible. i really prefer making the characters, rather than the events around them, more interesting so im glad that people were able to enjoy this fic with the characters and their thoughts and feelings alone rather than having rampant, fast action (that's for much later and believe me, there's a LOT of stuff happening later like you wouldn't believe.) thank you so so so much for enjoying my fic and leaving such a long and brilliant comment because i LOVE reading the thoughts of my readers more than anything. thank you for loving and supporting this fic and i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the rest of the story!_**

 _ **guest: thank you! i've always been a bit picky with fics and i've never liked fics that reduce tony to this narcissistic jerk rather than this troubled man who lives with an insane guilt complex and PTSD. i tend to stay away from avenger centric fics as ive always loved reading about tony as a full fleshed out character rather than just reading the surface. with allison, a single character, i'm able to actually write what i want to read: a look into tony but remaining an outsider, having to pick up on pieces of his personality that are sometimes forgotten. it's purely a preference and i write tony in the way i would love to read as a reader. thank you so much for reading and leaving a review!**_

 _ **Guest: thank you so so so much! im so glad that you've immensely enjoyed this story so far and i hope that this chapter isn't any different to the previous ones! it was such a blast writing from tony's pov and i didn't intend for this entire chapter to be from his pov but it just... happened. and i love it! thank you so much for commenting and reading!**_

 _ **eden: thank you! there's a lot going on in allie's own personal story with some links to the larger MCU that might be a bit shocking to people but she still remains her own person with her own storyline rather than just a tacked on OC i've forced in for romance and friendship. thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoy this change of pov chapter!**_

 _ **Princess Magic: thank you! ahh allison is such a mood because i could be writing her noticing how attractive tony is and i'd be nodding along thinking "wow what a big mood" as im doing so because honestly? BIGGEST FATTEST MOOD EVER. i'm so glad that you're continuing to enjoy and support this fic as always! it really means a lot to me to have such a dedicated group of readers who never hesitate to send their feedback and thoughts to me!**_

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 ** _I had such a blast writing this from tony's pov and i didn't want it to end but, i know it must. i have to admit it was kind of strange writing about allie... but not writing from her pov. plus we got an appearance from one of the avengers! poor rhodey, he's always so concerned about tony. it's a busy job being tony's best friend but no one else could do it better than rhodey._** ** _a lot of characters are mentioned in this fic and this small world doesn't seem so small anymore; who knows, the rest might even make an appearance at some time later on in this._**

 ** _Also, i really want to stress that this is from Tony's POV and a lot of the comments regarding Wanda don't reflect the author's opinion - i mean, i don't actually like wanda for a lot of reasons but this is NOT a wanda bashing fic (or any kind of bashing fic for any character), but she has done some questionable things to tony that have a lasting effect on him. tony is a man suffering from PTSD and anxiety and what wanda did during AOU did not help, imo, tony's state of mind and his mental illness._**

 ** _anyway, enough of that. is anyone here a fan of the group BTS? they released their new album and i am so IN LOVE with it. I've loved all the 'Love Yourself' albums but i think this might be a favourite._**

 ** _Oh! and my application for a deferral was accepted! so i'm officially taking the year off! i'm so excited to dedicate myself to writing and to my stories!_**

 ** _Also! thank you so much for 100 favourites and nearly 200 follows!_**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 ** _Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!_**

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 ** _Chapter Eleven._**

The last time Allie could remember ever being on a date had been two years prior but even then, she could barely classify it as a date; the two had been so awkward and unsure of what to say, the meal had passed in relative silence, with there being only remarks about the weather and about how hard work was. He had been cute but beyond that, there was not much else that interested Allie and she doubted that he was more interested in her than she was in him. So, the two had parted ways after a long and uncomfortable dinner and she had never heard from him again. In fact, if she tried to put some thought to it, Allie couldn't even remember his name.

When she had returned home later that night after the rather boring meal, Lisa didn't bother keeping the disappointment off her face to see her friend return so early and still sober with all her clothes and lipstick intact. Lisa made it known that she was rather unhappy with Allie's dating life – or, the lack of it – and had tried to set Allie up with men she didn't know, and even girls at times, but it all ended up with Allie returning before eleven at night without a partner on her arm.

Truth be told, it didn't bother Allie half as much as it did Lisa because it didn't bother Allie at _all._

There was nothing sad about being single and she didn't feel like the bitter, mid-twenties woman often portrayed in various forms of media for not having anyone to hold her at night. Dating had just never been on Allie's mind, or her agenda (save for when the cold weather had seeped in); of course, there was that one time when she was twenty that she briefly dated a boy in her year at college, who later went on to drop out making attending school that bit more bearable when eyes weren't following her at all times, but that relationship barely managed to soldier on through two months before Allie ended it.

There had been lots of crying on his part and lots of _it's not you, it's me_ on Allie's.

Of course she felt bad for stringing the guy along for two months when she doubted the existence of any such romantic feelings for him – though, part of her hoped she might be able to will them into existence so she wouldn't have to feel so bad for dating someone she never liked.

Allie didn't think there was anything wrong with her, there's was just… a lack of wanting to actively date and have sex with people. Part of her pegged it up to the fact she spent most of her life being too preoccupied with her own affairs and her home life, and then she wondered maybe it was because she didn't like men – but, then again, she didn't like girls either. So, Allie decided that maybe she just didn't like anyone. Lisa had tried to console her by saying that her soul mate was out there and she'd meet the right person one day but Allie didn't find herself all that bothered to go out looking for someone; if the right person was out there, they'd just have to come to her instead.

Though, it'd be hard for anyone to find her what with the amount of time she was now spending at the Avengers' Compound working for Tony Stark.

Autumn had long since seeped in, the fringes of Winter lingering on the edges of October and the trees were bleeding oranges and reds, browns and yellows, heavy coats and scarves becoming part of every day wear for Allie as she tried to keep the chill in the air away from nipping and gnawing at her exposed skin, staining it pink. It was only few weeks into October and Allie was already missing the muggy wetness that had been that passing Summer, her nose becoming runny and harder to breathe through as she tried to gulp in the sharp, fresh air of Autumn, burning her throat with how cold it was. Gloves were a nuisance, especially if she should need to use her phone but the two cups she ordered every day – tea for her, coffee for Stark – warmed her hands significantly and she found that the cold did not bother as much as it used to.

Her thoughts of romance came to the forefront of her mind, as they usually did, during the cold weather when all she had to warm her hands were two hot drinks rather than another person. It was a silly notion and thought that would flip back and forth in her mind as she tried not to stare at cuddly couples in public spaces – it wasn't done out of envy, but rather curiosity, mainly as to wondering whether she would ever be able to find a person to be unabashedly in love with as she often witnessed so early in the mornings. Even Lisa had managed to find someone, telling Allie that it had been someone at work and that they had gone for lunch a few times but had still yet to plan a proper date; there were times she would fall in love with strangers and imagine a whole slew of scenarios before her mind snapped her from them, dragging her back the reality that the heat in her hand was Stark's coffee and not another person's hand.

Allie wasn't so against romance as she was not on the lookout for it; there were always more important things in her life than dating but that didn't mean she didn't at least think about it every once in a while, and there were times that she did admit to herself that it would have been nice to hold someone rather than cuddling her pillow as she was prone to do.

But Allie knew dating was a whole area that she wasn't quite ready to accept into her life; friends were one thing, but a partner… it made Allie uncomfortable at the thought of being so vulnerable with someone and still having the possibility that they might leave; the only way to save herself from heartbreak was to just never open it up to the likelihood of being hurt. Lisa was her friend and Allie loved Lisa, knew she could trust her with her life and they were _friends_ , yet… despite Lisa knowing everything about Allie, there was still this staleness in the air whenever Allie's life was brought up; Lisa may know about, may even accept, every side to Allie, but Allie knew it made Lisa uneasy and unnerved and, thus, it was an elephant that had been ignored for the past two years since Allie opened up to the other woman.

And, so, romance was off the table; Allie just didn't have the energy to deal with love and other such emotions, never quite frankly found herself to be able to become so overwrought with feelings in the first place, anyways; she mainly blamed all these thoughts on the cold weather. She was twenty-five years of age and she had only been with one boy who hadn't exactly been the best in bed, or in any other area of their brief relationship. But Allie didn't find her life lacking, didn't find it worthless without someone by her side. Allie was always so grateful for the small things; a bed, food in the morning, the ability to keep the bathroom door unlocked without fear, being able to sleep in her room without worry. The quality of her life was not dependant on another person, only herself and she wasn't going to let that change just for anyone.

They'd have to look like Idris Elba or Halle Berry, for starters.

Still, that didn't mean she didn't wonder. Maybe if she had gone into that café she passed, the love of her life might have walked in. If she had taken a certain route, she might have bumped into them. If she had done this or done that, maybe she would have met them; it was a persistent niggling thought that could easily be forgotten or ignored if Allie didn't want to spend any more time dwelling on such unimportant thoughts. But with a city as big as New York, Allie doubted she'd be able to meet the person she would spend the rest of her life with in a Papa John's.

Allie blamed all these thoughts of romance mainly on the cold weather and also the sad realisation of being, yet again, alone at Christmas; she didn't really want to think about December yet but found it inevitable and hard to escape despite the fact Hallowe'en hadn't even begun. To keep her mind on the straight and narrow and not delve off into the rabbit hole that was her sore lack of love, Allie began finding herself becoming less reluctant to go into work – dare she say, she was even looking _forward_ to it. One of the main reasons for that was it was Allie's first year out of working in customer service and she hadn't had anyone yell at her in _weeks_ ; she never knew working could be so stress free – as stress free as working for Tony Stark could be. Of course, there were times he made her want to tear her hair out by the handfuls, but those were becoming few and far in between. One might say Allie was genuinely _liking_ him – not that Allie would admit that despite her attempts to remain aloof being a disaster.

Fact of the matter was that Allie really did find Stark to be a really rather friendly, albeit stand-offish at times, man who was not at all the arrogant and egocentric man she had thought him to based on whatever she had manage to find online or elsewhere; and, quite honestly, Allie was quite happy to be proven wrong on her prejudice as she much preferred working for someone whose company she actually enjoyed over a person she loathed to be around. No longer did he dismiss her efforts to try and at least get him outside for whatever she thought was important enough, but neither did Allie force him into situations that she feared might make him prone to becoming unravelled – Allie could see the shaking of his hands, hear the raggedness of his breathing, the tell-tale signs of things Allie knew, things that she could still remember lingering on the edges of her repressed memories. She would never think to ask him about it but the question lingered, the curiosity surrounding the thought that… maybe, just maybe… they weren't so different in all aspects.

But, Allie kept her mouth shut and never thought to presume anything about Tony Stark ever again.

As it got colder outside, if it wasn't just the thoughts of romance that made her life unbearable, it also became more intolerable for Allie to withstand leaving any place with decent heating, no matter the reason, and, as such, she decided to stay within the confinements of the Compound during her lunch rather than leave and have to be subject to the teeth of winter sinking its fangs into her; it was such a practical thought that Allie wondered why she had never thought about it before – it would give her more time to eat, save money and she wouldn't have to worry about rushing back. Plus, now that she liked being around Stark's company even more, it just made more sense to stay.

Though, the sensibility of it didn't seem to hit Stark as he walked in on her with half her face stuffed into sandwich, blinking and confused as to why she was there and not elsewhere.

"You're… here," he said, a lilt in his voice peaking and making it sound more like a question than a statement as he probably intended. Allie paused for a moment, mouth still firmly clutching her food before she tore off a bite, quickly chewing and swallowed before putting it down, screwing her face up.

"Uh… yeah. I kind of… work here," Allie replied pointedly, brushing her hands together to get rid of the excess crumbs that clung to her fingertips as she cocked an eyebrow towards the older man who was still trying to assess the fact that Allie was still present. "For you. Have been for nearly two months."

Stark shook the confusion from his face, clicking his tongue and becoming less tense as he gave a sniffle; Allie scrunched her nose up at the prospect that either of them might have given the other a cold given how much time they were spending around each other in such close proximity. There was a high likelihood of it being possible and Allie made a mental note to start stacking up the antibiotics and cough drops should her immune system decide to fail her and make her victim to a blocked nose for the next few months.

Allie shifted in her chair to cross her legs over one another as Stark shoved his hands in his pockets, sidling up to where she was sitting at the island of his makeshift kitchen, standing on the other side so that they were directly opposite to one another. From here, Allie could faintly smell the scent of his cologne and didn't realise the deep breath she was taking until it flooded out through her nose again; his hair was a mess too, as if he had been continuously running his hands through it as Allie knew he had a habit of doing and she noticed how the smears of indigo were lesser today, indicating that he had managed to grab a few more hours of sleep than usual. "No, I meant you're here during lunch. I thought you usually went… somewhere else."

A soft smile curved onto Allie's mouth, placing her elbows atop of the counter and leaning into it, voice taking a teasing tone as her eyes adopted a mischievous light lingering in the hues of blue. "Trying to get rid of me, Mr. Stark?"

He caught on to the playfulness lingering in her words and Stark tossed Allie a wink, adopting his own gleeful grin that made Allie quash the feeling of her own growing wider, a warmth beneath her skin as he copied her stance, leaning against the counter and peering at her from across the marble counter top; Allie unconsciously leaned back to gain some breathing space, trying to not look directly into his eyes, trying not to be aware of how _close_ he was and how she was surrounded by the smell of him. Just because it was all done in playful banter, words with no meaning or underlining hints, and just because Allie thought of herself as someone who wasn't easily prone to the romantic thoughts plaguing her mind of late, it didn't mean she was wholly immune to feeling flustered whenever Stark would do such things – it was _Tony Stark_ of all people; she liked to think of herself as being dumb, not blind. "Would never dream of it."

"Well, if you must know, I would but it's just easier to stay here, and it's a really money saver as well," Allie explained, taking her food once more in her hands to take a small bite out of it, ignoring how dry her mouth felt before her gestured over her shoulder, as she gulped her food down. "Plus, I brought food anyway and it's in the fridge."

Stark raised an eyebrow at her words and stood back, giving Allie the space she craved as she settled back into her seat again. His hands were placed flat on the counter top, splayed and drumming on the speckled, gleaming marble in a rhythm Allie thought was eerily familiar, feeling almost hypnotised by the action before his voice brought her back to reality once more, unaware of her zoning out while staring at his hands, much to her discomfiture. "In the fridge?"

"Yeah. Seriously, that thing's been empty for as long as I've been here," Allie replied, watching the older man as he made his way around to open it, peaking his head inside as Allie twirled on her seat, the lip of the island counter pressed against her back and cool, the frigidness of it seeping into her elbows as she let her arms hang loosely from the edge. "How do you even survive?"

Stark pulled his head free, retracting his hand with a Greek yoghurt being grasped in his hand, brow cocked. "I have a balanced diet."

"Of what?" Allie asked, copying the look on his face.

"Of…" He began before trailing off, lifting his shoulders and giving his hand a vague wave and closing the fridge behind him, unpeeling the lid and taking a spoon to sit himself down where Allie was, the latter watching his movement and moving back into her original position. "Whatever a balanced diet consists of."

"Well," Allie sighed, brushing her palms together yet again before cupping her cheek with her hand, arm propped up, watching Stark as he blanched somewhat at the taste of the yoghurt but continued to eat it nonetheless. "There's a range of _balance diet_ foods in the fridge for you to choose from."

At that, he paused and quirked a brow at her. "Are you telling me I need to eat more?"

"What? No," Allie all but scoffed in return, shaking her head at the mere thought for show without wanting to give away that that was _exactly_ what she was trying to get at; in the time she had been there, from what Allie had witnessed was that the man ate as much as he slept – which was to say, almost not at all. She couldn't help but wonder and worry if it was genuine forgetfulness or that he didn't care much for self-care. The question hung from the tip of her tongue, clinging on for dear life as she grasped her lip between her teeth, gnawing and chewing on it and forgetting about her lunch as she tried to find out what she could say without giving her thoughts away wholly. "But you do know people need food to survive?"

He paused in his eating and sat up right. "Actually – "

"No, there's no room for debate on this," Allie quickly snapped, glowering at him. Of course he would try to have a debate with her on this. Maybe he really did get a kick out of seeing Allie getting frustrated, the man in questioned watching amused as Allie huffed, eyes narrowing and wagging a finger towards him. "Don't you even _dare_ to try and convince me people can survive without food."

"You could," he explained, a smile curving around the spoon pressed to his lips. "But you'd die."

Allie rolled her eyes at his words, unsurprised by them. "Point taken."

"Well, it's true," he sang, shovelling another spoonful of the yoghurt in his mouth but seeming displeased with the taste, face pinching ever so slightly but not yet deciding to throw it away – maybe he didn't want to be perceived as rude at doing so since Allie had taken the time to actually buy groceries for the place under the pretence of using what she had brought for lunch. Not that he ever needed to know, and neither would she be deigned to tell him to save her ego.

There was a moment's pause where neither spoke as Allie pondered on her thoughts, peaking at him from beneath her eyelashes as she tried to stop her curiosity from getting the better of her, but found herself unable to keep it in check as she coughed, clearing way for her voice to speak. "Hey… so… I've been meaning to ask you – "

"No, I can't go out with you, Allison – just imagine how people will talk," Stark commented without a heartbeat's pause, not letting Allie finish and making her choke on the food in her mouth, feeling it catch in her throat at hearing him say those words; Allie's fist went to her chest, slamming down on it as she coughed to clear herself of the chance of choking and dying on a sandwich on front of Tony Stark, heaving breaths and swallowing as best as she could, eyes almost popping out of her head as he gave a snort of laughter. _Bastard,_ Allie hissed, gulping in another wave of air as she placed her food back down, glaring at him momentarily with a sharpened gaze, pinprick eyes while her chest heaved; the two stared in silence before Stark gave a cackle of laughter at her reaction, breaking the tension down and almost unaware of how flustered Allie felt.

"Oh, haha, very funny," Allie snorted, trying to brush past his words and ignoring the rising heat in her cheeks; she worried about it showing, the blotchy patches glowing in her skin and giving away her attempt at trying to appear indifferent to his words, even annoyed at most so as to not appear as affected as she felt.

"That isn't what you were going to ask?" he questioned, voice light and teasing and Allie adopted an appalled look on her face.

"No!" Allie exclaimed. "Why would I ask you out?"

"Because I'm handsome and charming and all you've ever dreamed of?" he sighed, sounding far too natural at this – _this?_ Echoed in Allie's mind, giving a sniff and resisting the urge to blow a raspberry his way, feeling far too childish. Allie cursed him in her mind, the annoying flush crawling up from beneath her collar all too familiar by now.

Allie rolled her eyes, arm crossing over her chest and letting a smirk carve its way onto her mouth, as sharp as her words. "I have better things to be doing than dreaming of you, Mr. Stark."

Her words did little to deter him, if anything they spurred him on as that Cheshire like grin on his face grew wider, crinkles along his eyes forming and deepening. He really did have such a nice smile. "That's not a no on the 'handsome and charming' part."

"If I wanted to ask you out, I would do it in a more romantic way and not while I'm shovelling food into my mouth."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he sighed dramatically.

"What I wanted to ask was," Allie continued from beforehand, wanting to push past this topic of conversation that left her floundering. She knew it wasn't serious, had to tell herself that a few times, but that didn't mean that there were times – Allie reigned in those whispers and brought her train of thought back on track yet again, clearing her throat and shifting in her seat. Part of her was hesitant to ask, lest he might take offence to it, but she wondered if there was really any trouble in trying to at least get to know him better; hadn't he asked her questions before? If he was able to do that, shouldn't she do the same? Though her answers hadn't really been the ones she wanted to say, it appeared – at least to her – that he was trying to make an effort in knowing her better; Allie just wondered if it were alright to extend the same courtesy to him without causing offence. "Do you ever leave this place?"

The question seemed to throw him off for a second, blinking slowly as he digested her inquiry before he paused in his eating, placing the spoon down in the pot and reaching up to scratch at the ruffle of curls that lay in a mop on his head; Allie watched as they caught on the light, strands of brown, of grey glinting and wrapping around each other and unable to break free. "Well, I have to sleep in a proper bed sometimes."

"Not what I mean. I meant _leave_ leave," Allie explained, the man sitting across from her giving her an expectant look to delve further into her statement. With a sigh bleeding past her lips, Allie reached up to brush away the strands that tickled her cheeks and hook them behind her ear, gesturing wildly to the very few windows this place had. "As in go outside, where grass is and where you can see the sky."

"I've left a few times," he defended, looking as if he was ready to pout. If he had, Allie wouldn't have been able to stop the snigger that was building up in the back of throat at how utterly _offended_ he appeared to be at Allie's suggestion that he didn't have a life – she hadn't meant it in that way, per say, but it was an underlining notion in her words. "We've been out, haven't we?"

"Not in that way," she said. "Do you ever just… leave to hang out with other people?"

"I'm forty-five years old. I don't think I can 'hang out' with people anymore," Stark scoffed, hands going up to make air quotes on his stressed words, almost mocking them – or maybe mocking her, though Allie didn't know.

"There's no age limit on having fun," she tried to tell him, though he gave her a look that begged to differ.

"You don't see elderly people going to raves."

"I don't go to raves," Allie told Stark without thought, not realising that how _sad_ she appeared to be when she didn't seem to do anything outside of work despite how young she was. Her nose scrunched up as her mind tried to comfort her that she didn't need to be going out every weekend and getting drunk to have fun; she had just as much enjoyment watching a rerun of _Friends_ as she would have getting blindingly drunk and passing out in a bush somewhere.

"Are raves even a thing with the youth nowadays?" Stark wondered aloud and Allie stared deadpan at him.

"I can't believe you just used the words 'the youth.'"

"The next generation?" he continued, not caring to acknowledge her words. "Young'uns?"

"I'm going to stop you before I'm going to worry about having to get you a cane."

"At least that'll help me to stand steady when I'm shaking my fist at the kids to get off my lawn," he shrugged and Allie snorted at the imagine of him doing so.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's what you do in your spare time," Allie laughed, before reigning it in once more, glad that he was allowed her to probe more into who he was and not who appeared to be. She preferred finding out this way, by asking him and hearing it straight from him, rather than looking it all up online as she might have done weeks ago when she first started working for him, forming her own prejudice ideas on his character based on the assumptions of other people. "Do you just never meet with people for fun? What about the Avengers?"

"I think I'm too old for those young ones," Stark sighed, sounding as tired as he appeared and Allie's head moved back and forth in disagreement, the strands of her pony tail tickling her neck.

"Oh, come on," Allie said instantly. "You're not _that_ old."

It was the truth, he was only forty-five, barely twice Allie's age. She was only five years shy of her thirties and, once, she might have considered that to be ancient but as she crept closer to that milestone, she found herself caring little about it. In all honestly, Allie didn't feel as if she had wasted her life, or that she was running out of time; Allie, in fact, couldn't wait for the day she would be able to retire in peace, to be able to have her own place and space. As much as she enjoyed sharing a place with Lisa, part of her still yearned for the independence she thought would come with adulthood, to be able to be her own self and adult.

Allie looked to Stark, taking in his somewhat haggard and ragged appearance; the messy hair, the rumpled and oil stained clothes. He looked older than he was, from the weighed down bags beneath his eyes to the deep set creases Allie knew would form between his eyebrows whenever he became too concentrated on something or when he was without his glasses and needed to squint in order to see better. Allie had been around to see him stripped of all that made him the face of the cover of _Time_ magazine and she had been there to see him dressed to the tens, facial hair clean cut on his jaw, speckled with grey here and there and, all in all, it made no difference on the fact Allie did indeed find him handsome – not in a _he's good looking for his age,_ but just _wow he's really good looking._ Embarrassed at the sudden turn in her thoughts, Allie chewed on the inside of her cheek, peaking down at the marble counter top and trying to make constellations out of the warped specks trapped beneath the surface in order to distract herself from falling prey to such lurking thoughts.

Still, Stark remained unaware of her thoughts, of what was lingering on the corner of her mind as he gave a huff, making her smile gently. "But I am, in a sense, _old._ "

Allie gave a breathy laugh, once more meeting his eyes. "Captain America is, like, a hundred years old. And isn't Thor a god, meaning he could be well over a thousand years old?"

There was a pause as Stark reached up to scratch his jaw, a pondering look carving its way onto his features. "I should ask what skin care he's using to keep himself looking so young."

"Maybe it's all magic," Allie offered.

At that, he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't say it's magic."

Allie stared in silence for a moment before opening her mouth to reply. "Mr. Stark, he can _fly._ "

"So can I!" Stark defended, appearing almost offended that she had forgotten that he had that ability too – even if it wasn't one he was born with as the subject of their conversation was.

"Yeah, but not like he can," Allie shrugged, becoming slightly cross-eyed as she took a loose curl that had escaped from its confinements, becoming caught in her eyelashes and sweeping it back behind the curve of her ear along with the rest of the niggling and annoying wisps that had sprung free from her low pony tail. Pleased that it was not locked in place, Allie turned back to the silent man sitting close to her as he shifted in his seat, clearing his throat as if he had been deep in thought about something.

Despite the dark tan he had managed to acquire over the years, Allie's eyes flashed over what she thought to be a rush of red in his cheeks but thought better of it; for one, she was without her glasses and could barely see past her hand if she stretched it out and he had seen her become red in the face enough times without commenting on it. She blinked and it disappeared, making her doubt her sight and curse her mind and eyes for being both useless and blind. He spoke once more, tearing Allie away from all thoughts of a _blushing_ Tony Stark; the mere suggestion would have made her keel over with laughter. "It still the same thing."

"Not really," Allie refuted and he looked positively disrespected at her saying so.

"Yes really," he replied.

"So, would me flying in an airplane be the same as you flying in your suit?" Allie inquired and was met with a breathy laugh.

"No, because you're not actually flying the plane and you aren't in a suit."

"Isn't it even a little scary?" she questioned so suddenly, her interest of his suits rearing its ugly head once more; not that he seemed to mind, though. He quite seemed to like the fact she was curious, asking him all she could about the mechanics of his suits. "You're in such a small piece of metal – "

"I wouldn't say it's just a 'small piece of metal'," he interrupted.

Allie screwed up her face. "But it's still metal."

"Titanium alloy," he corrected, stressing the words.

"Then why do they call you Iron Man?" she teased, eyes glued to him as she watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, eyes squeezing shut and muttering beneath his breath.

"I'm going to end up going into cardiac arrest," he mumbled, positively agitated by her incessant joking and Allie suppressed the urge to continue with her playful mocking of him, opting instead to continue her original course of action by asking him questions that were both serious and genuine in hopes of answers that were the same in both respects.

"How are you able to manage it, the flying?"

"Why?" he countered, raising his head and dropped the hold on the bridge of his nose once more and meeting her eyes, that same curious look on his face that Allie had on her own. It made that familiar gut wrenching feeling appear in the depths of her stomach once more, mouth dry and tongue tying knots around itself. "You want to?"

"Dear God, no. I hate flying. I hate being on airplanes," Allie replied breezily, hoping he wouldn't pick up on the awkwardness of her tone, wishing that he wouldn't delve further because she could sense the unease at the back of her mind creeping further, feeling it worsen as the curious look in his face deepened, a spark in his eyes. _Shit._

"You ever been on one?" he prodded, not noticing – or maybe not caring – the tightness on Allie's face, lips pursed as her jaw became tight, clenched before giving an acute nod in response, doing little to divert him on his course. "Where to?"

Her hands felt clammy as she tried to remember to use her voice, to say the words that needed to be said. It was harmless probing on his side – it wasn't his fault, wasn't anyone's fault, but Allie had never been great at speaking. "Just… Ireland. Over the summer to visit family."

"Your parents were from there – what part?"

"The West. Countryside," she barrelled on, rushing through her words and wiping her hands on her jeans, tossing him a tight smile as she watched him open his mouth to inquire further but cutting him off before he could do so. _It's just curiosity – he has as much right to ask as you do_ , whispered the voice in her head, too loud for her mind and pressing against her skull. "You wouldn't know it."

"Oh, come on, I'm not some idiotic American who doesn't bother learning the geography of other countries," Stark all but whined, sitting back in his chair and amusing Allie, lessening her unease due to the subject at hand. He splayed his hands towards her, a boyish grin on his face. "Try me."

For once, Allie decided to indulge him and the words didn't leave a bad taste in her mouth, not like the other ones did because they were here own words. "A county called Mayo."

"Okay, you're right, I don't know it," he replied after a moment's thought, seemingly embarrassed at being proven right by his own previous statement before a joking look took over his face, eyebrow cocked in disbelief. Oh, Allie just _knew_ what he was going to say next, she had no doubt of that in mind. "And, really, Mayo?"

"Don't," she cut him off curtly, shaking her head, raising a hand towards him to strengthen her warning. "I've heard all the jokes."

He held his own palms outwards in defence, ceasing whatever he was going to say before dropping his arms once more, draping them across his chest and chewing on his words for a moment; Allie's eyes remained distracted at the sight of his arms for a moment, peering at the tanned skin that peaked out from the sleeves that were rolled up to his elbow, quite fascinated by the golden glow that greeted her before she was pulled back from her daze. "Would you ever go back?"

 _Ah._

There was a string around her heart, tightening as her voice died in the bottom of her throat, already in its grave as the tip of her tongue ran over her bottom lip, racking her brain on whether she should respond as she wanted to or not as it had been so many years and she doubted the place she remembered was the place it was today; Allie gave a half hearted shrug, dropping her gaze once more. Memories of homesickness, of those early days yet when she had been stranded here, wondering for when she would be able to go back home for God knows how long before she pushed the notion from her mind, knowing it could never happen. A shaky breath left her, hands clenched around each other as she dug her voice up from its grave to speak.

"Maybe," Allie told him truthfully, knowing that it could never happen. "Someday."

"Well, I, for one, am quite glad that you were able to go," he divulged to Allie, as if sensing the wistfulness in her tone and moving on from talk of home and Ireland. For that, Allie had never felt more grateful towards him than she did now, clearing her throat and hoping to banish the crack the was threatening to expose her. "Now I get to hear the most delightful Irish accent every day."

"I can tell you have a fondness for them," Allie said. "You're lucky I'm not from somewhere with a thick accent, like Limerick or Donegal."

"I… don't know what those words mean."

"I wouldn't expect you too," she said before straightening her spine, eyes sharpening into a mock glare towards him. "But now I'm suspicious that maybe you only hired me because of my accent."

"You got me," Stark confessed, shaking his head and throwing his hands up in surrender. "I've been caught red handed."

"I don't disagree with you, there are some accents that just make me sigh all dreamily,"

"American ones?" he asked, perking up as if in a hopeful fashion.

Instantly, Allie blanched without thinking. "Ew, no."

"Wow," he whistled, placing a hand over his heart in faux hurt.

"No offence, but it took so long to get used to the American accent. It's so…" Allie trailed off, trying to find the right thing to say without actually saying what she wanted to explain or that fit best with what she was trying to say, hand waving in the air as her face screwed up in fake, deep thought.

"Loud and obnoxious?" he offered, looking rather unamused at her charade.

"You said it, not me," Allie responded, deciding not to delve further on the subject as he gave a huff, unimpressed with her agreement to his statement. Allie swung back and forth on her stool, biting her lip before she spoke once more, not wanting to really meet his eyes. "They're not all bad, I suppose. I guess it just depends on the person and not how they're saying it that makes me want to faint."

"Oh? Like who?"

Allie stared for a moment, her mind conveniently forgetting every single famous actor and actress she could possible think of as she stared at him, a moment's pause as he awaited her answer that seemed to never come before her voice threw out the first, generic name that she could think of, rather than what was really on her mind.

"George Clooney."

That seemed to make him even _more_ unimpressed and displeased, rolling his eyes as Allie felt her phone begin to buzz in her back pocket, nearly making her jump as she was pulled from their little world. "Oh, please."

"What? He's honestly one of the most handsome men in the world," Allie declared, scooting back slightly shifting her weight to dig into her back pocket to grab her phone. He was eyeing her, uninterested in and disapproving in her defence of her choice. "Don't be jealous."

The words seemed to offend him, as if she had said something far worse than that, slumping where he sat as Allie took her phone, glancing at the screen and seeing an unknown number flash up. "I'm not jealous."

"Would it help if I said that he's got nothing on you?" she suggested, not looking up from her phone for a moment as she tried to rack her brain for any memory of seeing such a number, but falling short and coming up with nothing. Stark didn't reply for a second and Allie tossed him a peak from her eyes lashes to see him sitting somewhat at a loss for words before he recollected himself in an apathetic manner.

"Only if it's the truth," he shrugged and Allie grinned, leaning slightly across the island counter, eyelashes fluttering.

"He's got nothing on you, Mr. Stark," she said in a sweet, soft tone, pleased at seeing him drop his indifferent appearance to glance at her before she turned away and back to her phone. "At least you can fly. Now, if you excuse me, duty calls."

"Or some unpleasant individual," he commented, voice loose and he took to fidgeting with his empty yoghurt pot as Allie's thumb hovered over the answer button, half hoping that whoever was persistent in still trying to call her would give up.

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"Touché," he winked, tapping the side of his nose before pointing towards her, Allie shaking her head at his actions and clearing her throat as she normally did to put on her best, sickly sweet voice that she had perfected throughout the years, far too fake for her own liking.

"Hello, Tony Stark's – "

" _This is Patrick Heidman._ "

"Oh," Allie blinked, wavering slightly at his abruptness as she turned away from Stark as he mouthed to know who it was, which Allie promptly ignored. "Hello, this is Allison – "

" _I was calling about the refusal to the invitation to the charity dinner that was extended to Mr. Stark to raise funds for the families of the first response units during The Incident_ ," continued the man on the phone – Heidman, was it? Allie could feel the sweetness in her voice dripping away as she heard the very critical and cold tone in the mans voice, trying to remain focused as Stark, unimpressed with Allie ignoring him, moved around to sit close beside her, trying to eavesdrop in on the conversation and causing Allie's heart to still in her chest for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the man beside her as the words of the one on the phone became impatient and harsh. Oh, it was going to be one of _those_ people, the ones that she had dealt with too much over the years. " _The donation given to us is much appreciated, but I am inquiring as to why Mr. Stark would refuse an appearance."_

Allie tossed a glance to Stark, unsure of how to reply with the man in question sitting so close beside her and leaning, unaware of what his close proximity was doing as she tried to breathe, tried to not drown in the smell of him. She stammered for a brief second before finding her footing once more, desperately trying to ignore the heat burning into her side. "Mr. Stark, unfortunately, does not have time to be able to – "

" _And what, exactly, makes him unable to attend? Clearly, he has nothing better to do these days._ "

His words made Allie have to smother a curse that was forcing itself up her throat, hands clenched on her lap as jaw set itself in place before she took a deep breath to cool the fire in her chest, a fake grin on her face to help her with the act of appearing nicer than she wanted to be at that moment towards this man. Stark was staring at the crazy look on her face and tried to listen in further, not caring for when Allie leaned away as he did so. "Mr. Heidman, I'd really prefer if you didn't – "

" _Does he think that he's better than all of us, or too good to show face around after the damage he's done?"_ he snapped and Allie desperately hoped that Stark couldn't hear despite the fact the man's voice was getting louder, climbing and climbing to the peak of yelling no matter how polite Allie was trying to make herself appear to be. A glance from the corner of her eyes showed that her hopes hadn't been answered and Stark's face dropped for all but a moment, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat but quickly gathering himself without knowing that Allie already saw. The fire in her chest grew.

Taking a deep breath without caring if the man on the phone had heard, Allie continued to failing attempts to be civil, trying to remember Francis' teachings of 'the customer is always right' even when the customer was a total _ass._ "The donation has already been put through and I can't – "

" _Ah, yes, the donation. I guess he just can't be bothered to do it himself._ "

"Mr. Heidman, I really – " Allie began, becoming even more irritated at being cut off, fuelling the fire that was getting out of hand as she tightened her grip on the phone. All these months away from interacting with customers apparently had lessened her tolerance for bullshit.

" _I can't believe that he won't even explain this for himself. I guess it's expected of a Stark._ "

"Sir – " Allie sighed, exasperated and forgetting how much her head hurt having to deal with people like this. And she was having such a good day too. Her hand went up to the bridge of her nose, pinching it between her forefinger and thumb while trying to ignore the pain in the ass that was talking – no, practically _yelling_ at her into to her ear. Allie squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to calm herself and to stop her temper from getting out hand, especially with Stark looking at her with expectant eyes, waiting for an explanation as to who was speaking that would not come; Allie kept her voice low and sweet through clenched teeth, remembering all that had been drilled into her during her years as working in customer service. She could do this, she knew she could and, taking a deep breath, Allie went to try and appease the man who was shouting into her ear at that moment – until she felt a hand cover hers and rip the phone away from her ear.

Turning quickly, her eyes found Stark as he stood and stepped away from Allie, pressing her phone to his ear as Allie got to her feet, none too pleased to see a sneer on his face as he cleared his throat before speaking. _Oh no._

"Tony Stark speaking."

Allie made a wild grab for the phone but, before she could, he was out of her reach and Allie's fingers brushed nothing but air. Oh, _fuck_ no, she was _definitely_ not liking the look on his face. Allie's voice was hushed and hoarse, eyes pleading with him as she made another swipe for the device but failed. "Mr. Stark!"

"Oh, Patrick. It's you," Stark sighed, unbothered by Allie's attempts as he adopted a displeased tone in his voice, bored and sharp at the edges as Allie became tongue tied. Oh, she could _not_ believe him! Allie gave a huff, glaring at Stark as he nodded along to whatever was being said from the other side of the line, though seeming very uninterested at what he was being told.

"I see your side, but I'm afraid that I just don't want – no, sorry, I just am not able to, and yelling at my assistant won't do you any favours," he spat back, and Allie resisted the urge to bury her hands into her face, waist deep in disbelief at his words as she tried to make a grab for the phone but it remained out of her grasp as Stark continued to keep the distance between them, grinning goofily at Allie's pathetic attempts to seize control of her phone yet again and nodding along to the voice on the other line on the phone.

Stark took a sharp breath through his clenched teeth, humming along to whatever the other person on the line was saying, loud enough for Allie to hear but still being indiscernible for her ears. Allie made another reach for the phone but Stark turned the other way, making it impossible for Allie to take hold of it as he continued to step away from her each time she made an advantage towards him, hand held out but not bothering to wipe the smirk off his face, listening as he no longer bothered to keep up the civility Allie was desperate in keeping. "You see, I could, but I don't want to. Why? Well, I'd have to deal with _you_ for starters, which is something I wouldn't even wish on my biggest enemy."

A strangled gasp left Allie's mouth as his words, legs no longer strong enough to keep Allie upright as she plopped back down into her seat, far too unable to wrap her mind around his behaviour towards the other man on the phone but remaining too shocked to try and snag the phone back from his hand, a hand briefly clapping on her lips to quell the sound that left her, dropping only to give a hushed and scandalised cry, which was met with a finger being held up in her direction to indicate he needed a moment's silence. " _Mr. Stark_!"

"Sorry, I have to go. I'm being called away. Okay, bye-bye, don't call back!" Stark sang, not waiting a moment longer before pulling Allie's phone away from his ear and pressing the hang up button, much to Allie's chagrin, staring at him with her jaw dropped open as he held the phone out for her to take back into her hand but Allie was too shell-shocked by his behaviour; she could not _believe_ that he had said that, _done_ that! He continued waiting with his hand outstretched, staring all too amused at Allie's wide eyes and open mouth. Maybe it had been the years of having to always act as if the customer was right being drilled into her, but the very fact that he had acted in such a way without a worry made every word in Allie's mouth turn to dust on her tongue.

Realising that Allie was rendered almost catatonic from his startling behaviour and was unable to retrieve her phone once more, Stark gave a _tsk_ of his tongue before reaching down to take a hold of Allie's wrist, splaying her hand flat with her palm upwards to place the phone down into her hand, fingers instinctively going to wrap around the device, just in the event that she should forget that phones break when they drop. Recollecting her thoughts, his hand burning into her skin, Allie snapped her eyes to his as he let go, hand still in the same position as he had placed with before she managed to find her voice once more, croaking as she spoke. Stark still seemed totally and utterly unbothered with the whole ordeal, making it all that more surreal for Allie. "Oh my God."

"See?" Stark began, taking the seat beside Allie and appearing blasé about it all, turning with his back against the island and resting his elbows atop of it, arms dangling from the edge. It's just as easy as that to deal with people."

"I can't believe you did that."

"As soon as I heard the name, I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant," he said, pulling a face as if to prove his words; Allie wanted to shoot back that the guy will probably be even more unpleasant are Stark's behaviour towards him on the phone – meaning that he's going be twice as unlikeable towards Allie. "He's just some asshole who's always trying to get places and leech off of other people."

Truth be told, Allie didn't actually know the guy from anything or anywhere so had nothing to base Stark's statement off, chewing her bottom lip as she fiddled with her phone in her hand, glaring at it as if it were a venomous snake ready to sink its fangs into her palm at any given moment. "What do I say if he calls back?"

"In the likelihood that he does, just hang up."

The very suggestion, the very _thought_ made Allie recoil as she furiously shook her head. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

Allie floundered, trying to find the right words to say but found her worries baseless. "Because… because it's rude!"

"Wasn't he the one yelling at you?" Stark questioned and Allie's voice dropped, seeing his point.

"Yes, but…" Allie agreed, knowing that what he had said made sense but that didn't mean it was right. Allie had always been proud of the fact that she (normally) behaved like a a mannerly and polite human being - with her last job, and even every job before that, she had to be under risk of being fired or yelled at. Allie was more than used to people yelling at her and she had become somewhat immune to it, and, with a sharp exhale, Allie gave an exasperated shake of her head as she clicked her tongue in disapproval. "It's just rude to hang up on people. I'm used to people yelling at me, anyway."

Stark gave a tight grin. "You shouldn't be."

"Well, I am. I don't want to be seen as a rude person and then have people talk about me behind my back."

Without a moment's hesitation, Stark replied to Allie's surprise. "Then I'll do it."

At his words, Allie found herself lost, voice suddenly gone in a single breath as she gawked at him, mouth parted in surprise as she became tongue tied, unsure of what she could even say to reply to such a statement. He couldn't be serious… could he? Her mouth felt dry as she stared at him, Stark returning the gaze in the moment's pause and making Allie realise that, _oh no, he's too close._ The hand around her phone tightened as her thoughts echoed in her mind – _don't get too caught up in words that are wind._ What was even going on with her? It was just a stupid suggestion and there she was, getting all strung up on four words like some lovestruck teenager with her first ever crush; Allie tore her eyes away, breaking the gaze as she gave a small, awkward laugh to hide what was bouncing around in her mind.

"You can't do that. _I'm_ the one supposed to be answering calls."

"Well," he said, smiling all so sweetly, grin large and causing crinkles to appear around his eyes. _Oh, damn him,_ echoed in Allie's mind. "Then I'll be the one _un_ answering them."

"You don't worry about being perceived as rude?" Allie asked, voice almost hushed as if she was afraid that someone might overhear – though knew the worry was nonsensical since, other than Colonel Rhodes, she hadn't seen another person down here since moment she started working for him. At her words, Stark paused in his movements and gave Allie that _look_ – the one she knew to say _are you serious?_ And she might have returned it with her own, warning glance but, before she could, he gave a small sigh.

"If they don't have the decency to act like a good and polite person, then I won't extend the same courtesy," Stark told Allie simply with a nonchalant wave of his hand, placing the spoon back in his mouth to clean it of what remained of his rather lacklustre lunch as Allie's mind soaked in his words that were, truth be told, sensible. The hand that held Allie's phone dropped as she pondered on his words for a moment, zoning out briefly as he began swinging back and forth on his stool yet again.

"That…" Allie paused for a moment, quite caught off by his words as she had never actually thought of it in that way before, giving a small nod in agreement, feeling more surprised than anything else. "Makes sense."

Stark gave a shrug as Allie pocketed her phone yet again, standing up once more from his seat to throw the unwashed spoon in the sink, Allie watching him unimpressed as he did so. "I've always abided by that to people who yell and nag at me."

Allie frowned at him, narrowing her eyes at the older man, crossing her arms over her chest. " _I_ yell and nag at you."

"Yes, but it's your job to do it," Stark said, giving her a wink that made Allie roll her eyes, unable to suppress a smile quirking on her lips. There was a heat in her cheeks that seemed to burn but Allie tried to push it down, tried to banish it so as to not be caught out. "And you'll get tired of it eventually."

Allie stared, unsure of how to reply properly, not wanting to lie but feeling too embarrassed to tell him the truth that she doubted she ever could get tired of it, of him; instead, all Allie could do was give a tight smile. "Not if you pay me enough."

When he gave a laugh in response, that knotting in her chest worsened.

Allie really hated the cold weather that seemed to plague her with thoughts such as these.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

* * *

 _ **intata: thank you so much! sometimes i do find myself writing large chunks of paragraphs mainly because i absolutely love breaking characters down so much and im glad you didn't find it tiresome! i enjoyed writing tony's pov SO MUCH that i've moved up his next pov significantly without having to change much of the story. thank you so much, and im so glad to know you enjoyed reading my interpretation of the character!  
**_

 _ **Guest: thank you! i feel so bad now for missing last week's update after hearing how much you love and enjoy this story, but i promise that i will try to keep such things happening not as much! i'm actually proud that i've been rather consistent with this story in comparison to my other one (it's been literally two months since i last updated it yikes). thank you so much for reading and leaving such a supportive comment!**_

 _ **Lucky Strike's alter ego: ok im going to need a moment before i get into this review because when i read it, i honestly burst into tears. i was going through a rough patch last week (hence no update) and when i saw your review i has so overwhelmed because i never in a million years thought that someone could ever leave such a beautiful and lovely and kind comment on my story that they genuinely enjoy. i really felt like we needed a peak into tony's head rather than allie's interpretation's of his actions so that the next time he does something we can be like "oh! this is what it really means!" i love tony and i love the fact he's so human and can hurt and suffer like normal people do - he's not some almighty being or this legend put on a pedestal, he chooses to be a hero. even despite his anxiety and PTSD, he continues to choose to be the hero we all know he is. i really dislike how his mental illnesses are retconned a lot or just ignored, and quite honestly his struggles are going to be a large part of this story and i hope i can do them justice. tony is such a sweetheart and romantic at heart! no one can convince me that he's this ~suave~ cool dude playboy because! it's canon that he went for a jog with his fianceé and asked her can they have a baby! god dang i love tony "please can we have a baby please please" stark. and you dont know how shocked i was to see that you said i inspired you to publish a tony fic! i really need some good tony romance fics because they are my Life Blood and the world is sorely lacking in them and now that i'm over my small rough patch from last week, i'm going to go check it out! and i could never EVER be bothered by you recommending this fic! if anything, i'm so honoured! this is such a long reply and i'm kind of embarrassed by how much i've rambled but i just can't help it, especially when you've left such a lovely and supportive comment! i do hope you enjoy this chapter and future chapters of this story as you have so far!**_

 _ **Guest: thank you so much! i was a bit nervous about my interpretation of tony as i see him but im so relieved that people really like him, and i feel way more confident in writing from his pov now so much so that i'm going to do it more often than i initially planned to do! thank you so much for the review and i hope you continue to support this story!**_

 _ **spacevoyage: ahhh thank you so much! you don't know how relieved i am to hear that not only did you enjoy tony's pov, but that you also enjoy allie as a character because she's not meant to be this all good and all pure person. she makes mistakes, she can be mean and be moody and i was worried people would be turned off by her and her initial prejudice beliefs towards tony that were corrected some chapters before hand. i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the last one!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you! i really love tony and i love him even more for his struggles, and i really wanted to do them justice because they are going to be a very important part in this story - especially his anxiety and PTSD. poor allie just can't catch a break - it'll be another while before rhodey can use "tony stank" on tony so tony better make as many jokes as he can before that happens. honestly, i mostly created allie because tony really just needs some love and support and if it takes 50 odd chapters or so, then i'll do it. if marvel won't give him love and support, then i'll just have to create someone to do it myself!**_

 ** _Am-fan097: thank you! im so relieved to know that while i may present my own interpretations, that i am able to stay true to the characters to some degree so that they still retain bits of themselves rather than having a dramatic retelling or being ooc. i hope you enjoy this chapter as you have the past few!_**

 ** _myharlequinnromance321: thank you! i really wanted to build a strong foundation for these two and though it may have been rocky at first, they're not going to know what hit them in a few chapters! i just want these two to be best buds but they're so stubborn._**

 ** _JustCallMeWhatever: thank you so much! im so happy to see so much support for tony's pov and i've decided to write from it again very soon (much sooner than i anticipated). thank you so much once again and i hope you continue to support this story!_**

 ** _readeratheart8128: thank you so much and i'm so happy that you gave this fic a chance! tony's struggles are important to me as both a person and a writer and i want to be able to do them justice rather than retconning them like SOME PEOPLE (im looking at you joss whedon). and i feel like i can't keep ignoring this question or dodging it for much longer because i've already set the basis for it so, to answer everyone's question: YES! this is in fact a slow burn! i really wanted to remain vague about for as long as i could but i don't think i can do so any more. though it's going to be a VERY long time before ANYTHING happens! thank you so much for reading and leaving such a lovely review! i hope to hear more of your thoughts in the future!_**

 ** _pinkeye: first off, thank you so much for leaving a review! and without giving much away, tony is going to struggle a lot with his thoughts of pepper and allie (like a lot. so much struggling. please get this man a blanket and some cuddles please). i love pepper, i really do, and im glad she exists to give him the love he deserves as well as being such a badass and strong character but im3 kind of put me off her for a bit because of her attitude towards tony's struggles. her somewhat dismissive attitude kind of irked me and while it isn't a partner's job to act as a therapist for their loved one, support can go a long way. and im really trying not to give everything away because there's SO MUCH to allie's background that explains a lot to her character and to her reactions and skills. the very very basic priorities to this story are: tony + allies relationship allie's past + tony's struggles allie's skills (that will have its own storyline later.) im going to stop myself from revealing more because when i do finally bring everything to light i dont want people to be like "you told us that forty chapters ago". thank you once more for leaving your review and i really enjoy hearing your thoughts on this story and its characters!_**

 ** _PotatoWriter54: thank you so much! i felt awkward writing from tony's pov because it was my first time ever doing so (every fic i've written that features him has been from a different pov) but i'm so glad that it worked out and people are enjoying it! im not going to lie, i had my bias goggles on when listening to answer so i spent the first few days listening to 'epiphany' and as a hyungline enthusiast, i absolutely adore all the songs from the hyung line (if i play 'seesaw' one more time i feel like my sister is going to explode at me to change the song). i adore jk's solo song and when i heard the full length version of serendipity i was blown away. i have to say my favourite group song is definitely 'love myself.' i just love these boys so much i stan legends_**

 ** _eden: thank you! truth be told, i was really pleased with the ending result of the chapter however unsure i was about it. i love writing from tony's pov and i was worried that people might not like how i write him but im so glad that you enjoyed it! i always had such a hard time writing dialogue for AGGEESSS but this fic has really helped me to become better at it and now i'm much more confident in creating friendships and maintaining the chemistry between characters. allie will be her own person with her own storyline but she will have run-ins with the avengers (but that's far in the future but i already have her first meeting with them in mind and all i can say is: poor allie, she really can't catch a break.) Truth be told, i've never really put much thought into a faceclaim for allie until you mentioned it. i kind of wanted people to imagine her as they please and any interpretation is correct if that's how you see her! thank you so much for reading and for leaving your thoughts! i do love reading the feedback and thoughts of my readers!_**

 ** _LordSkyjacker: thank you! i'm glad to know that you enjoy my story and the way i write! i've always been a bit insecure with my writing but seeing people enjoy it so much gives me so much confidence! i always love breaking characters down, from their thoughts to how they act around certain characters. thank you so much for reading and supporting the fic!_**

 ** _glagla60800: thank you so much and you shouldn't worry about speaking english because your english is amazing! i'm so glad that you decided to give this fic a chance and im so happy that i didn't disappoint! for me, the foundations of friendship is really important for ANY relationship to be developed on and i'm so glad i was able to do it in a realistic way! thank you so much for leaving such a supportive review and i hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as you did previous ones!_**

 ** _coffeeandcake: thank you so much! thank you so much as well for giving my small fic a chance! you don't know how happy i am to hear i am able to do tony's character justice while also giving my own interpretation on certain aspects of his life (such as pepper and his relationships with the other avengers.) i hope that you enjoy this chapter just as you have past ones and i always look forward to hear feedback and thoughts!_**

* * *

 _ **i feel so bad for missing last week's update and i had the first 3-4k written before i went through a small rough patch and had to distance myself from writing and my laptop. but i'm back and though it's like 10 past 11 here, i'm finally finished even if im not happy with the end result of this chapter. me missing updates is mostly due to work or some life problems and if i don't update on a tuesday/wednesday then i will update the following tuesday to keep things consistant!**_

 _ **[me gazing longingly out the window] when will my editing of chapters before publishing them return from the war?**_

 _ **if you guys have anymore questions, dont be afraid to hit me up on my new tumblr starktohny!**_

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	13. Chapter Twelve

_**I do not own any of the characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Twelve.**_

As much as she wanted to be a person who had her priorities straight, Allie just wasn't such a person to do so. She normally had her life in order and usually knew the people to put first, but always felt that her number one priority should be herself and her safety. She abided by that for the first few years of living in America, but the worry faded away and she began to relax – probably too much so.

It wasn't as such that she threw all caution to the wind or bundled it all up and threw it out the window, she just didn't let the worry and stress control her as much as it used to, making her a puppet on strings while dictating every waking and sleeping moment of her life. Allie chalked it up to the fact for the first time in her life, she had security – _proper_ security and not a thin veil of an impression of it that might turn around one day and bite her in the ass. That same said security was the end goal of working for Tony Stark by the end of June the following year – where such she would finally become financially independent and would no longer have to worry about the past digging itself from the grave she had hoped would be forgotten and dragging her back down into the pit of it.

For all her cynical thoughts towards him in the beginning, Allie was finding herself all that more relieved that Stark really wasn't the person she worried that he would be; Lisa had once more proven herself right in being a judge of character – not that Allie would ever tell her friend that; Lisa would never live it down if Allie did. With Stark being a more likeable person than she had initially thought him to be, and a lot less cold and egotistical as she was misled to think he was, it made her become less stressed about leaving and that bit less hesitant in spending more time around him.

The only problem was that she seemed to be spending a bit _too_ much time around him.

She hadn't thought much of it, still doesn't think that much of it, but she could sense Lisa's hesitance, how her friend would bite her tongue to stop herself from saying what she truly wanted whenever Allie would tell her in the morning that she would be returning late from work; at times, when Allie would text to tell her, the replies would consist of one word or a string of the thumbs up emoji. It hadn't hit Allie just how much… different the two were now; it wasn't a drastic change and it wasn't as if they weren't friends, but, truth be told, Allie couldn't quite remember the last time she and Lisa had sat down together and had a proper talk. Allie was always the first one to leave in the morning and all that would be exchanged was a quick 'bye' thrown over her shoulder that would be echoed back at her; Lisa was often too preoccupied at work that if Allie did return home before her, she would arrive late with much to do and review throughout the course of the night.

And then there was the boyfriend.

The title of boyfriend hadn't been bestowed upon him yet, but Lisa had mentioned in passing that they had been on three dates already; he was some guy she had met at work and they had gotten lunch together a few times but beyond that, there was not much that Allie knew. She didn't even know what he looked like or what his name was as Lisa would feel that she would jinx a good thing by telling people about him before it became stable and settled; so, until then, Allie remained in the dark about this mysterious man in Lisa's life and tried to ignore the lingering presence of envy that remained in the corner of her mind, boxed away and hidden from the rest of the world as Allie refused to acknowledge its existence.

With Lisa spending more time with her boyfriend and Allie not wanting to spend so much time alone, she decided that she'd go with the only other option she had left.

She really hoped that Stark didn't realise that her lingering about was for any other reason besides that, because there was no other reason – none that Allie wanted to face up to, anyway.

For the most part, he didn't really seem all that bothered about Allie hanging around for longer nor did he take note of her actually arriving earlier than usual to work; if he did, he never said anything or hinted that he knew to her at all. With Allie becoming more willing to remain after work, they more often than not found themselves engaging in the other part of Stark's deal for when Allie took this job; he wasn't teaching her how to "hack" – oh, how Allie despised that word – but there was no other word to describe the area that Allie succeeded in most; while he was helping her to expand on them, she found herself not all that interested in doing so since she never had put her heart and soul into such things like her brother had. Not that Allie had the heart to tell Stark, she didn't want to seem ungrateful or stuck up for declining his proposal so she found herself not so much as stuck in these impromptu lessons but rather with no other option. It was either this or spend her time alone at home doing nothing at all and falling asleep in front of the T.V.

She definitely favoured the former of the two.

Part of Allie wondered if he continued to spend time with her after work simply out of pity – or because he was in the very same predicament as she was, not that she would ever ask him of course; already Allie felt she was pushing boundaries and didn't want to give Lisa more reason to tut at her and waggle her finger due to over active imagination. Allie wasn't too bothered as to where Lisa's mind led her with regards to wondering about what Stark and Allie were really doing in all their hours together but part of her squirmed whenever Lisa attempted to confront her friend about it; just because it wasn't true didn't mean it didn't put rather unwanted thoughts into Allie's head that were promptly pushed to the side.

In the end, Allie managed, she always did, and as October was beginning to draw to a close, the orange glow of Autumn seeping into November's Winter weather, evenings at the Compound became regular for Allie, the hours seeming longer as the dusk settled that bit quicker, becoming darker and colder all that tiny bit faster. The mornings were bearable, at least she always had her hands wrapped around two steaming takeaway cups that warmed her palms.

The place was lacking in any sort of Halloween decorations (save for a small, ceramic pumpkin that all had brought in to be placed on the middle island of the kitchen) and she would not have thought that Winter was lingering on the fringes of the day what with how _warm_ it was inside the place; rather than brave the cold, Allie decided that she would much rather spend just that bit longer in the cosiness – though another word that could be used to describe Stark's lifestyle was _messiness_ – of the Compound, and Stark didn't seem all that put out by her somewhat constant presence; they had grown used to each other – dare she say, Allie would think she was almost _fond_ of him. Then again, she supposed she could be fond of anyone who signed the amount that was on her paycheque.

Stark didn't seem to be up for another one of their lessons as he had spent much of his time that day working on his suits and Allie had picked up on that he was having a 'Quiet Day', making her more determined to remain behind instead of going home as she should have. He didn't seem to mind the company and Allie wasn't too bothered by staying, electing to instead to brew herself her fourth cup of tea that day, the sleeves of her sweater pulled over her hands with her fingers peaking out as she cradled it, reviewing the latest documents and letters again just in case as she was always worried about missing something or misjudging the importance of what she believed to insignificant.

The hour was late and her tea was getting colder as she neared the bottom, a text sent to Lisa informing her friend that she would be staying behind still unanswered yet despite being nearly forty five minutes beforehand; with a main growing in her temples and behind her eyes from wearing her glasses while focusing on something too close, Allie slipped off the spectacles, letting them hang from the collar of her sweat as she drained the last few dregs of her drink, nearly recoiling at the cold taste of it. She had thought about putting it in the microwave to reheat it as she was prone to do but knew that it would only just become cold all over again and she would have to endure it all over again. With a grimace Allie placed her cup down, ears picking up on the sound of footsteps drawing nearer and, sure enough, then entered Stark seconds later, looking a little worse for wear but still handsome, nonetheless. As if he could be anything but.

She cocked a brow at him as he sidled close, moving to take the seat opposite her and Allie _knew_ that look on his face, the way he was chewing on the inside of his cheek and how his eyes remained narrow towards her; Allie didn't bother speaking first, knowing that that even if she wanted to, she would not be able to stop the questioning that would take place. It seemed that as the two spent more time together, the less they cared about not knowing more about the other and the less reluctant they were in wanting to talk about themselves. While Allie would have wanted to talk about anything other than herself, she felt it only fair to answer his questions just as he would answer hers.

He sat opposite her, not yet speaking and continuing to look and Allie crossed her arms over her chest, locking her ankles together and hooking a foot around one of the legs of the stool to prevent them from dangling as she gave a sigh. "Out with it, then; it must be important if it drew you from your hermit cave."

Stark blinked, a flash of surprise rushing across his features for a brief moment, seemingly shocked that she knew that he wanted to probe her for answers about something and Allie almost wanted to retort that he wasn't as closed off as he tried to be, more so an open book; yet, she held her tongue as he rested his elbows on the gleaming, marble counter top, stains of oil dotted in patches on his arms as his fingers linked together, not caring that they were messy as Stark placed his chin on his laced digits, still staring at her with that _look_ and it only worsened, making Allie positively dread at the prospect of what might fall from his lips. A million and one scenarios occurred in her mind, each more worrying than the last and Allie's throat felt too dry, mouth too small to hold her leaping heart.

"So," he began casually, chewing on his words for a moment as his left thumb uncurled itself to trace the line of his jaw and along the shadow of his facial hair; for a moment, Allie could not help but watch the action before she pulled herself free, feeling as if her heart might burst at any given moment. He let the pause drag on for that bit longer, as if he enjoyed watching her squirm before continuing on. "Those sticky fingers of yours – "

At that instant, Allie's face scrunched up at the words, rather too caught on the unpleasantness of them rather than what he was actually saying and let a disapproving look find its way onto her face without a moment's thought, not giving him the chance to finish before she cut him off with her own words, not really thinking about what he actually wanted to ask her. "Please don't use that phrase."

He raised a brow, pulling himself from his concentrated trance and he dropped his propped arms on the counter, letting them lie palm down and sitting straighter, shuffling in closer to the edge of his seat so that he was nearer to Allie as he leaned over the table; Stark was completely facing her straight on, giving her his undivided attention as he once more rested an elbow on the edge of the counter, hand cupping his cheek. At being able to see Stark wholly, she made a note of the splashes of exhaustion that hung beneath his eyes but held her tongue to prevent herself from saying something, not wanting to cross a line. His face turned up in confusion, rethinking his words but not coming to any conclusion. "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"It's just…" Allie began, screwing her face up even more before shaking her head, the strands of hair that were held in a low ponytail tickling the back of her neck as it swung back and forth, goose bumps rolling on her arms at the ghost like touch. With a shrug, Allie turned back to what she was focusing on moments ago, trying to remember where it was that she had left off though finding it hard to concentrate as she usually did when he was staring at her, eyes burning and making her feel too flushed; Allie felt like such a teenager and she despised herself for it, her mind too caught on the implication tacked onto a seemingly innocent sentence, blushing like mad as she untangled her tongue and kept her voice light, unburdened. "It's… _weird_ and sounds…. You know…. wrong."

Stark gave a grin at her words, a smile that was all too reminiscent of a shark's. She _definitely_ couldn't concentrate with that stupid look on his face and Allie somewhat loathed him for it because he just had to know what he was doing. With a frown on her face that seemed to only make his smirk grow wider, Stark leaned in closer across the counter and closing the distance that Allie dearly missed. She could see too much of him, of his eyes, the crinkles along the tops of his cheeks, the flecks of gold hiding in brown. "What, saying sticky fingers?"

She tried not to smile, instantly moving to bite down on her bottom lip and taking a hold of the inside of her cheeks, chomping down on the flesh as she shook her head. She supposed base humour was something no one could ever mistake. Releasing the grip on her bottom lip, Allie gave him a shake of her head, no longer attempting to stop the corners of her mouth from turning up; Allie attempted to morph her features into a serious expression but felt it fell flat from the spark of amusement in his eyes. "I will literally pay you money to never say that ever again."

For a moment, he didn't say anything and Allie thought she won.

Of _course_ she would be stupid enough to think she could win out against Tony Stark in a battle of words.

"Sticky fingers."

Allie glared at him as he awaited his prize expectantly, lips forming into a pout as she gave a roll of her eyes, clicking her tongue.

"Well, obviously not _now._ "

He adopted a look of disappointment, relaxing back into his chair and no longer ignoring the space that was between them, giving Allie the breathing space she much needed and craved. "And here I thought you would be a woman of your word."

"And I also thought that you wouldn't be such a grease monkey, yet here we are," Allie snorted, eyes glancing up and down at his rather unpolished appearance that she had become accustomed to seeing on him during the months she had since begun working for him. Stark blinked and looked down at his own attire, as if it was the first time noticing how much of a hot mess he was at that moment. It worked for him, she noted; it gave him a rather rugged handsome quality rather than the usual scrubbed up and clean appearance she was used to seeing in magazine. She watched as he held his hands out in front of him to examine them and she shook her head. "Please wash your hands."

He frowned before going to wipe said hands on his shirt, Allie staring at him with an unamused expression on her face and he rolled his eyes, once more resting his crossed arms on the lip of the counter. "They aren't _that_ bad."

"And here you are accusing me of sticky fingers," Allie sighed, shaking her head as if it was some grave misdemeanour he had done to her and he gave a breathy laugh, at her words and her reaction.

"I wasn't accusing anyone, actually – it was more like it a question," he said, managing to spin the conversation back around to what he had originally intended to talk about before Allie had attempted to unconsciously switch the subject. That dryness appeared once more but Allie forced herself to remain steady, to remain calm, nonchalant as she gave a hum, eyes dropping to what she had been reading before as if to distract herself and to make sure she was hidden so that he could not pick up on her bad attempts to lie. She was glad that he couldn't see her leg awkwardly jerking from where she had her foot hooked around the leg of the stool.

"Question? What kind of question?" To her surprise, her voice remained steady and Allie tried to convince herself that she couldn't very well act this way every time he tried to ask her something otherwise he would eventually pick up on something if he hadn't done so now. She peaked up at him through her eyelashes, trying to keep her appearance as reserved as possible in order to convince both him and herself that could remain calm. After years of experiencing situations such as these, she should have learned to lie or learned to not freak out as much, yet every time was like the first time and she never got better at lying throughout the years.

Stark didn't speak for a moment, not picking up on Allie's small quirks with her leg bouncing to the fact her hand was gripping the edge of the page she was pretended to read from that bit too tightly, cheeks feeling slightly too warm as they tended to do whenever she was forced into circumstances such as these. As before, he laced his fingers together and rested his chin atop of them, eyeing her and trying to pick her apart, as if she was a strange machine he couldn't quite yet figure out but was trying nonetheless. It made her cheeks burn even more and it wasn't because of how it was habit that happened when she attempted to lie. "Why did you decide to learn all of this stuff?"

Allie stared for a moment, quite unsure of how to answer and surprised enough by the question as it hadn't been something she had thought he would ask; all those worries of before, of truths and being caught out seemed silly now and part of her felt relieved that this was what he had ask and the other part was nervous as she didn't understand why he had pulled himself from his work to ask her such a mundane question, one that he had already asked her before and one she had already answered – sort of. Grasping her lip between her teeth, Allie dropped her gaze, gulping, and she kept her voice low, a murmur. "I told you why."

"Yes, but _why_?" Stark inquired further, stressing his question and drawing Allie's gaze to meet his and he was _staring_ at her, as if he was trying to make sense of everything she had ever said but it only made him frustrated because to a degree, it didn't made sense. Allie only wished she could tell him _why_ it never made sense but knew better than to do so, instead letting him ramble on rather than shoehorning her words in before she fully understood the picture. She squirmed beneath his gaze, feeling her skin itch and her face become hot as it usually did when forced to meet prolonged eye contact and she felt self-conscious of all that she was, from her hair to her make-up, worrying if the red flush was shining through and highlighting her age old acne scars. Her eyes flickered around his face, envious of how smooth and unblemished it was, save for the soft crinkles etched into his skin along his eyes, around his mouth. His eyes were not harsh as they gazed but they were picking her apart into nothing. "You said you and your brother weren't close and it takes a long time to even get to your skill level. Why keep at it?"

Allie swallowed once more to ease the dryness in her throat, desperately trying to find the words to say – whether right or her own, she didn't know but either way, her mind was blank and she was coming up short on her vocabulary. With a half-hearted shrug, Allie dropped her hands from where they were on the counter and wedged them between her knees, trapping them and ignoring how her leg only became more jittery and she was glad that he could not see beneath the counter, could not see the tell tale signs that might give her away. He awaited her answer and she wondered about why he was so curious and what had brought this on, but stopped herself from walking the path that was paved with age old worry.

"Just… because," Allie choked out, trying to appear as casual and offhand as she possibly could without making it too obvious that that was what she was trying to make herself be. He raised an eyebrow, quirking it and indicating for her to expand on her rather vague explanation; Allie huffed and scrambled her brain to give a proper response this time, something that was a mix of her own words and the words she knew she needed to say, peppering in bits of herself into the words of another. "Teenagers get bored, I guess. Plus I watched a lot of movies and thought would it be cool – you know, until I realised how useless it was knowing all of this."

This time, her answer seemed to satisfy Stark as he gave a soft hum along with a nod of acknowledgement, or maybe understanding at her explanation and Allie gazed at him, teeth gnawing on the inside of her cheek as her nervousness bubbled down, simmering only slightly as the bouncing of her leg began to slow to a halt. He relaxed, pleased that she had managed to sate his curiosity for once rather than dodging the question or offering a jibe instead of what he sought; Allie pursed her lips, unwinding her ankles from around one another, letting them dangle from the stool, not being able to reach the ground as she swung them back and forth, trying to put all that previous nervous energy into something else that word burn it out. "So… if we're asking stuff – "

He looked at her, dropping his previous expression and there was a tightness in his posture, hands gripping each other that bit tighter and giving way his displeasure at the turn of conversation. Well, she hadn't expected _that_ reaction, that was for sure. Though, if had picked up on her signs of discomfort – which he would have if he had two eyes and could see – then he hadn't bothered to stop until he got his answer, and neither would she. "We're not."

Allie gave a pout, trying to ignore the tension lingering in his words and hoping to lighten his mood from its sudden downfall. "That's unfair."

Stark gave a sigh, but she could see him let a small smile grace his lips as he unwound his hands, spreading his arms outwards and giving a lift of his shoulders with her attempt to push away some of the discomfort he felt at the prospect of her asking more questions was successful. "That's life."

"That's also being called _nosy_ ," Allie retorted snidely, a smirk on her lips. "Tit for tat, right?"

At her words, Stark's face screwed up, perfectly mimicking her own reaction when he had first attempted to ask her his burning question and a giggle bubbled at the back of Allie's throat before she quashed it down with a cough, trying to not to get too caught up on his expression and how it want to almost _sigh_ of all things. Allie did not like to think of herself as a person who was prone to sighing simply because of the unintentionally endearing expressions done by another person, but then again, she had thought a lot of things that she was later proven to be wrong about after meeting Tony Stark. "Maybe we should make a list of phrases that should be banned."

A laugh left Allie at his words, shaking her head and trying to discern whether he was being serious or not; if she knew him – and Allie liked to think she did – then there was a high chance that he most likely was not joking about making one, or maybe he was going to make one as a joke – _same difference,_ her mind echoed. "And, what, stick it to the fridge?"

Stark pulled up straight for a moment and looked to her rather too seriously for their topic of conversation – which had derailed off into something Allie hadn't intended at all. _Damn him, he knows what he's doing_. "We don't have any magnets."

Allie looked at him for a moment, unsure of how to respond to his statement with another retort but finding none able to match. Instead, she pushed onwards with her previously intended topic of conversation. "Can I ask my question now?"

"I don't know," he sighed, shoulders drooping as he spoke, not looking as bothered as he had been before but more so resigned to his fate. "If I say no will you still ask?"

Allie pretended to think about it for the briefest of seconds before giving a not. "Yes."

With an over exaggerated sigh, Stark place a hand over his heart and shook his head, closing his eyes and seeming far too forlorn, as if he had been told the worst kind of news possible, like his dog dying, rather than being the victim of Allie's questioning; she wasn't just going to let him pull answers from her without expecting to be subject to the same treatment. "You are a formidable woman and I surrender myself to your probing."

Allie's stared deadpan at Stark. "Another phrase we're adding to that list."

He pondered on her words for a moment before giving a nod of agreement. "Fair enough."

"So…" Allie began, letting her voice trail off, question hanging onto the end and she decided to let him suffer for a moment by dragging out the pause just as he had before with her though her didn't seem as bothered as she thought she had appeared to be, or maybe he was just a better actor than her. Allie ran her tongue over her bottom lip straightened her back, meeting his eyes straight on and attempting to mimic that same, serious and concentrated look that would appear on his face whenever he wanted to ask her something. "Why machines?"

He looked at her, furrowing his brows for a moment at her rather vague question. "Why machines what?"

"Build them – usually guys have hobbies such as gaming or football and not making, well, robots."

Stark let out a breathy chuckle, though it seemed somewhat strained, as if he was trying to give levity to the moment for her benefit rather than letting her feel as if she had chosen a rather too personal question out of the millions she could have picked. And for a moment, Allie though to retract her question and statement, not wanting to give him any cause for discomfort but a small quirk found itself in the corner of his lips, lifting some of that unease off of Allie's shoulders. Though the moment of relief passed as he leaned forward, closing the distance that lay between them once more but this time, it was more breath stealing as he seemed almost _aware_ of what he was doing – and not only that, but he was also aware of how she might react. Allie forced herself to remain still, to not get lost on the waves of her over active imagination and she met Stark's eyes, trying so desperately to not burn away to nothing beneath his stare that she knew that many had crumpled beneath before her. "I guess you could say I'm not like other guys."

Allie was dumbfounded, lost for words and unsure of what to say, what she could say. Joking always seemed to lift the moment that Allie often found herself dragged under but her words had deserted her, any barb that she might toss his way withering to nothing. She longed for the days where she didn't drown in the smell of his cologne. When Allie found her voice, it sounded unsteady, rather soft and so not like her. "No, I guess you're not."

It was true because there weren't many guys who had singlehandedly saved New York from a nuke by flying it into a hole in space and, as that thought passed through her mind, Allie cursed herself for not saying _that_ instead of her meek response. The moment hung on for a few brief seconds longer, Allie feeling much like a deer in headlights as he continued to hold her gaze, unaware of how tightly her nails were biting into her palms before something clicked and he returned once more to his relaxed position in his seat, the breath he stole from Allie returning to her lungs once more as he gave a blasé shrug, uncaring about he had caused Allie suffer from heart palpations; she was becoming more and more convinced by the passing hour that he really was a sadist at heart.

"To answer your question, it's just what I've been good at. And I enjoy it, always have," he replied honestly, much to Allie's surprise; she had half expected him to dodge the question with a joke or a quip or keep to his previous answer, but she never had a proper conversation with him if she wasn't surprised by him at least once. "Keeps the mind busy and it's a good… distraction."

The word peaked her interest and it was Allie's turn to lean closer, eyebrows knitting together in question as her arms rested folded on the counter top, knees brushing against the wooden panelling. "Distraction?"

"You know, when the world is ending and you've been in space, distractions help," he rushed, rather weary and torn at the edges. The brute honestly of his words sent Allie reeling, not stopping herself from staring in surprise at the fact he was actually _sharing_ this with her, _this_ being rather personal thoughts. They had always only ever touched the surface with talking to each other and asking each other questions, but now they were dipping their fingers past that line and with him being the first to do so. She supposed that if he gave her enough trust to tell her about his difficulties, that she should only return the gesture. "Not always in a good way, but they help."

Stark ended with a wispy sigh and Allie could see his Adam's apple bobbing, his folded arms across his chest tightening just that bit more and Allie was unsure if it was from being uncomfortable at talking about it or talking about it with _her_. She was quite unsure of how to respond or what would be appropriate enough to respond with and floundered for a moment, stringing together the words she thought best suited as an answer. "Well, that's a good explanation as any, I suppose."

Stark's glaze flickered to her. "Not satisfied?"

"I wouldn't say that," she responded, casting him a soft smile, reaching up to push her pony tail which had slipped over her shoulder to hang down her back again, tilting her head towards him and feeling quite perplexed, as she was still quite stunned that Stark had told her something truthful rather than swerving around her question – though _why_ he did befuddled her; she wondered if maybe he just wanted to tell someone about it, even if she was that someone. A small, echoing part of her wondered, maybe even hoped, that he told her because he trusted her. "I just didn't expect something so heartfelt and profound."

"Hey, I can be heartfelt and profound," Stark frowned, almost pouting in response to her words.

Allie gave a lift of her shoulders and clicked her tongue, voice dropping low to murmur beneath her breath, more so to herself than for the conversation. "Jury's still out on that one."

He scoffed, giving a sniffle as his nose twitched. "This is workplace bullying and I can call human resources on you,"

"We don't have a human resources," she told him, scrunching her nose up at his words. "There's only me and you here."

He gave a flash of perfect white teeth, a grin spreading across his face and lighting it up instantly, teasing and mischievous despite the attempt to mask it as being a boyish smile, voice almost cooing towards her. "And there's no one else I would love spending time with."

If Allie were a weaker woman, she might have spluttered, stumbled and stuttered but she simply rolled her eyes, ignoring the rush of red rolling in waves up from beneath the collar of her sweater, half tempted to reach across and sympathetically pat his shoulder for good measure. "At least I won't go telling people all your dirty little secrets."

"Oh, please, I have no dirty little secrets," Stark commented, pausing to rethink his words as Allie tossed him a look that showed she didn't believe him at all and he relented with a sigh. "You can view them all online anyway,"

Her reaction was instant and not at all in the way that she had intended, blanching in response at the thought of seeing whatever he used to get up to back in the day on the internet being something she most definitely did not want to see – at least not again; let the past in the past, she supposed and by God, did she not want to see any other video of him off his head on alcohol doing some very questionable things with a shaky camera with bad quality trained on him. "Oh my God, ew. No, gross."

At her words, an offended gasp left him, eyes wide with faux hurt gleaming in them as he adopted a cracked voice to further drive home the point just how slighted her felt with her statement. "Okay, wow."

"I just meant that it's a gross invasion of privacy to just look them up online," Allie tried to explain but he rolled his eyes, seemingly unconvinced by her words and Allie shook her head, knowing that he wouldn't believe her even if she told that it was quite the opposite reason of what he was thinking was the reason for reaction.

"Nice save."

"Not if it's the truth," Allie chimed with a small, toothy grin. "You can't believe everything you read online."

"You mean I'm _not_ secretly married and I _don't_ channel money to fund the lives of my currently five unacknowledged children?"

Allie gave a sympathetic nod of her head. "Don't worry, I've been super quiet about that."

"What would I do without you?" he asked sweetly, voice sounding far off and dreamy.

"Crash and burn, most likely," Allie responded, giving him a sweet and falsely innocent smile with eyelashes fluttering in his direction. He dropped his eyes for a brief moment, only to give a roll of them instead and click his tongue in disagreement at her words. "Not in that particular order."

"You give yourself too much credit," he stated.

Allie gave him a cheeky grin, half tempted to throw in a wink for good measure. "Only when it's due."

"Aren't you humble?" he teased and Allie gave an indignant gasp, pulling herself up into a straight position.

"Says you!" She exclaimed, half in disbelief that he was actually teasing her about acting not too humble.

"Yes, says me."

"So, you're telling me that you're a humble person?" she smirked and he mulled over her words, pulling a thoughtful expression before turning to her with a shit eating grin on his face.

"As humble as ever!" he exclaimed before inclining his head towards her, a mock bow as his hand found its way to his heart, playing on the dramatics. "I bow down before your wisdom, oh mighty hacker."

"Please don't, that's so cringey and I hate that word," Allie recoiled, and he looked at her confused, though seeming to understand her apprehension for the word.

"But isn't that what you are?" he asked her, and Allie's mouth opened to reply before realising that, quite literally, it was what she was and it was how she came to enter this job. Her mouth snapped shut and Stark appeared triumphant at her silence before Allie gave a huff, arms winding around her chest as the breath that left her caught on a loose strand of hair that had been threatening to fall from its place behind her ear for the past few minutes.

"I can do so much more than… _hacking_." Oh, how the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

"At the rate you're going, I doubt it," he muttered and Allie glared at him though knowing he had a point since she wasn't exactly up to his standard or his level yet with how he was trying to teach her, though she knew that if she been allowed to work in her own way, she would have no problem putting up a fight even if she didn't win.

"I spent _years_ doing this, okay? I might have a trick or two up my sleeve. And just because it's boring doesn't mean it can't be fun," she explained and he looked at her, face void of any emotion.

"Yes it does," he said to her. "That's – that's _exactly_ what boring means."

Allie gave a shrug. "Not anymore it doesn't."

"Truly, you are powerful," he stated, a lack of anything in his tone before he moved in closer, face giving way to genuine curiosity. "So, tell me, what's the trick up your sleeve?"

"Well…" Allie began, not really thinking as she chewed on her words, not thinking at all before they left her mouth, word vomit spewing forth due to her carelessness. "I wouldn't say it's _my_ trick."

"Then whose is it?"

Stilling, Allie cursed herself, wishing she could reel the words back into her mouth and down into the pit of her stomach where they could be eroded away to nothing. Her teeth chomped down on her tongue too late and she felt her nails dig into the flesh of her arm, the sweater taking the brunt of the pressure and leaving her with only a pinching feeling. Her silence continued on and Stark raised a brow at her, indicating for her to answer and Allie sucked in a breath, sharp and piercing her throat as she tried to rush through the words.

"It's… it _was_ my brother's," she said, stiff and cold and ignoring how stiff her fingers were from how hard they were trying to bite into her arm through the material of her top. Her voice was sharp and cool, steel and ice as a look of understanding flitted across Stark's face, understanding the reason for her strange behaviour, even if he didn't actually _understand._ She could hide behind this excuse, this veil that he had constructed in his mind without actually lying or without actually having to tell the truth. "He used to do a lot sketchy stuff – "

"It runs in the family," he snorted, cutting Allie off.

Allie gave a scoff, snapping up the change of subject quickly and wanting nothing more than to move away from the previous one. "I don't do sketchy stuff."

"Tell me, how did you get this job again?" he enquired and Allie tossed him a look before letting her face melt into something softer and sweeter.

"Because you found me charming and a delight to be with?" she sang, tone all too syrupy and sugary but Stark stared, as if at a loss for words as she bat her eyelashes in his direction without actually thinking about how much she _shouldn't_ actually do that but the way he squirmed made her all that more gleeful, watching him shift and cough behind his hand and drop his gaze for a moment before recollecting himself, turning his gaze to the side as if the wall was more interesting.

"Maybe."

A grin split across Allie's face, beaming as she cooed, the words leaving her before she could stop them, though she didn't seem to mind all that much. "Oh, so cute."

That seemed that was the last thing that Stark expected for her to respond with as his head whipped back to Allie, a mixed look of shock and offence carving into his features that made Allie all that more wanting to tease him, though she would never let herself indulge in it. "Cute? I'm _cute_?"

"Don't tell me you're offended?" she clucked, feeling far too entertained by something so simple as his reaction to her words. If this was the case, maybe she would be more inclined to tell him such things more often and it wasn't as if they weren't true, either.

"I've been called many things and cute is not one of them," he all but pouted, making Allie want to coo the word at him again but refraining from doing so lest she make him appear even more upset, however much she wanted to for that reaction alone.

"I'm probably not going to want to know what you've been called because I can already picture it in my mind's eye," Allie whistled and an affronted scoff left Stark, who was looking rather indignant for being simple called _cute._

"And what exactly are you implying, Allison?" he gasped, looking as if Allie had done something far worse to slight him. "That I haven't always been an angel?"

"I'd doubt this is what people call being an angel," Allie snorted and he didn't bother trying to look offended as he had before, instead letting himself drift off into thought.

"So, what would I be called?" he pondered, a snake like grin finding its way onto his face. "Devilishly handsome?"

She gave a roll of her eyes but not disagreeing in the slightest. "Nice play on words. You must be proud."

"I always am."

"As I was saying!" Allie said, bringing the conversation back on track after being derailed one too many times than she would have liked it too; it seemed to be a recurring thing whenever the two of them spoke that they would easily become distracted and get off topic. "My brother used to do some sketchy stuff and he _may_ have passed some of those tips and tricks onto me."

"He may have?" Stark echoed, cocking a brow at the words. "Meaning he definitely did."

"Exactly," Allie grinned nodding, nonchalant and uncaring as she gave a wave of her hand as she ploughed through without thinking. "He may have been off his head on one thing or another most of the time, but he was a smart lad."

Her words were an explosion, a rush of carelessness that sent them both into stunned silence as neither had expected her to tell him something so personal – _and so true._ Her heart stilled in her throat, mind wondering when on earth had she become so thoughtless and uncaring with her words and Allie's jaw clamped itself shut, wanting nothing more than to just slam her head against the counter and forget that she had ever let those words leave her mouth.

Stark blinked, letting the sudden burst on information soak in, digesting them as he tried to find the right words to respond with, nothing bothering to hide his surprise at her being so truthful all of a sudden. Allie winced and hoped he wouldn't be too pressing on the matter. "Oh? You didn't say that…"

He trailed off, half afraid to continue in case he may have misunderstood the meaning of her words or maybe not wanting to make her anymore uncomfortable than she appeared to be. Allie held her tongue for a moment, unsure of whether she should just breeze past the topic of conversation but found herself in too deep of wanting to actually say the truth, to not have to lie about anything. With out a thought, it was bitterness that fuelled her onwards. "He was a massive druggie who would sell his family to scrape two coins together for anything to get him high?"

Stark blinked again.

"Yeah, that."

"Well, he was but enough on that," she continued, not caring to linger on her words any longer and instead steering the conversation back to what it had originally been about. "He had this idea of a firewall that was, to break it down, similar to the coding the Nazi's used to use back during the war."

"Great, we're working off of Nazi ideas," Stark all but spat, his face turning up in understandable and rather relatable disgusting.

"Not off of them, but it just happens to be similar," Allie clarified, trying to scramble her brain for the exact way her brother had described it to her so many years ago, piecing together pieces of information that she had thought long since lost in the passing years. "It isn't a revolutionary idea and he just managed to make it a thousand times more complicated for this new era of technology and firewalls and all that."

"So, did he ever manage to make it?" he questioned, appearing more and more interested in what she was trying to explain. "Or was it all just in theory that he had this idea?"

"I… don't know. This was years ago, back when computers still had backs bigger than houses," Allie replied truthfully, deciding that lying wouldn't do either of them good. "We were – well, he was limited by a lot of things like resources and money and time and sobriety."

He stared in understanding. "Which _you_ now have."

Allie gave a nod. "Which _I_ now have."

"And you want to try and implement this idea of an ever changing firewall into reality?" he asked her and Allie stopped, never having really actually thought of it properly.

"Uh… well…" Allie hesitated, feeling somewhat embarrassed and turning redder as she began to explain. "I don't know if I'll actually be able to."

"What do you mean you don't know?" he questioned, confused by her words with a crease forming between his knotted brow. "If you have the idea, all you have to do is do it."

"I could," Allie tried to explain, wishing to not stay on this topic of conversation for any longer and hating herself for bringing it up to begin with. A sigh left her, hand reaching up to tug back the annoying and tickling wisps of hair that had fallen free from her low pony tail as her voice became a mumble, barely able to be heard by either of them. This conversation had become far too sharing for Allie's liking but she only had herself to blame – and only herself to kick in the ass, too. "But I'm not as smart as my brother when it comes to things like this."

"Well, you're not your brother," he offered and Allie's heart leapt, tying around her throat and forcing a lump into the base of it. She dropped her eyes to the counter and tried to ignore the softness of his tone, how genuine he seemed to be. "You could really surprise yourself."

"I'll probably mess it up," Allie murmured, staring at the warped speckles trapped within the marble and trying to make sense of them before she heard a breathy laugh, turning to peek at Stark through her eyelashes and having her breath knocked out of her at seeing a soft smile grace his lips, face closer than it had been before. She wanted to drop her eyes again but felt too trapped in the headlights of his eyes.

"You won't," he assured her. "And you know why I know you won't?"

"Because you're always right?" she offered, voice tilting upwards and offering what had been intended to be a sarcastic comment as an unsure question. Stark's mouth opened and closed before he nodded to her words.

"I was going to say because you have the skillset, but, yes, that too," he said and then he stopped, eyes widening as his grin sharpened, growing wider and wider into something that Allie didn't quite trust, leaning back into her seat and assessing him with narrowed eyes as he turned to face her, looking far too happy with himself for Allie's liking. "And also because you're going to do it for me."

Out of all the things he could have possibly said, that was the _last_ thing Allie expected, leaving her spluttering as he sat looking pleased with his spur of the moment decision, nodding to himself as if in agreement as Allie sat reeling from his words. "I'm sorry?"

"Since you managed to get through my own firewall, I think maybe I should let an expert take charge."

"But…" Allie began, hesitant and rather regretting telling him about this. "I'm not an expert."

"If you can put me to shame, then you are," Stark said, the words said in comfort but doing little to actually do so for Allie. She was grateful for the praise, but still felt unsure, unconfident in her abilities compared to him and knowing that she could never hope to surpass him, however much he tried to teach her.

A small smile graced her lips, grateful but not quite believing his words. "I doubt it would be hard to shame you, Mr. Stark."

He gave a hum, turning away slightly to look to the distance for a moment, as if he was caught up in the thoughts of the past with a heavy heaved sigh. "Ah, memories."

Allie snorted, shaking her head and Stark turned back to her seemingly pleased, as if his intention of saying so was to simply make her feel less unsure, for which she was thankful for but not at all any more inclined to take him up on his rather preposterous proposition. She should have known by now that he was prone to such irrational decisions – it was how she got this job in the first place. "Listen, I think, maybe, if anyone should do it, it's you."

The curve on his lips dropped slightly at her words. "You mean I should do the thing that you haven't fully explained nor have gone into detail about?"

Allie thought for a moment.

"When you put it that way…" she murmured, trailing off and seeing sense in his words but shaking it from her head, scattering it to the four corners of her mind and giving a sigh, reaching up to hook a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "But still, yes; at least you won't screw it up."

"You won't screw it up, I know you won't," he said once more but his tone was more serious, less joking and teasing and it stilled Allie for a moment, voice dying on her in the back of her throat as she was caught up on the sincerity of his words. They held eyes, unwavering and neither daring to break first as a shaky breath pooled into Allie's lungs. Her voice was soft, wispy and whispered and filled with genuine curiosity.

"How?"

"Because," he began slowly, though the light and playful tone of before was not present as it had been. Allie ignored the nervous jitteriness that was bubbling and itching beneath her skin, once more dryness in her throat reappearing as she resisted the urge to fiddle with the cuffs of her sleeves as she would be prone to do in order to stem the quickness in her chest. She squirmed in her seat but did not look away from him, finding herself not really wanting to in the first place despite how much he was making her heart pound, how he was making her face quick to burst into flames and, in this light, Allie could easily have mistaken his eyes for gold. He held a sincere smile, and Allie couldn't breathe. "I believe in you."

Whatever had been making her heart fit to burst within her chest ceased and she stilled, trying to form a proper response that wasn't delivered with a red face. Her tongue was tangled, tied around and around and no words could make it through the maze and knots as she reeled from his words, feeling as if she was suffering from whiplash too many times already that day from him words, such simple words that they shouldn't have made her feel like this but they did and Allie cursed him for it for he had to know how they made her react, made her feel. She held onto his eyes for a bit longer, trying to steady herself before she filled her lungs and searched for her voice, fearing it had died on her before she turned away. "Aw, that's cute."

Peeking through her eyelashes, she could see his face drop, the sincerity of before dripping from his features instantly and he gave a shake of his head, murmuring beneath his breath with a grouchy tone. "That's it – we're adding that to the list."

"But it isn't even bad!" Allie whined, a laugh at the edge of her words and feeling herself unable to contain the sheer entertainment she felt at having him become upset at her choice of words, watching him as he gave another huff. _Oh, cute._

"It's going on the list!" Stark sighed dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air as Allie didn't even attempt to restrain herself from letting laughter bubble on her tongue, watching him all too amused as he stood and moved to walk away, grabbing what appeared to a crumpled piece of paper that had been wadded into a ball earlier by Allie from one of the documents she had read before and thrown onto the top surface of the kitchen island. He unrolled the piece of paper, smoothing it out and moving to stand, feet leading him to leave the kitchen in what Allie assumed was in search of a pen. "I'm going to write it right now!"

Allie gave a sound of disappointment, lips curving around the sound as she watched him go, feeling the aches in her cheeks, her eyes that bit tighter from how large her grin was as she resting her chin on her cupped hand, pouting slightly as she clicked her tongue, adopting a cooing tone. "Can I still say that that's adorable?"

There was a pause of silence where nothing was said before Stark slowly began to peer around the door frame of the kitchen, leaning outwards so that Allie could only catch sight of everything above his shoulder, feeling far too amused as he stared at her with his eyes narrowed and lips pursed as if he was in deep thought, none too pleased at that large grin on Allie's face before he gave a small, curt nod, relenting. "We can negotiate."

If that was how it was going to be, Allie would just have to win her case and make sure to call him adorable every single day that she was here.

* * *

 _**Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

* * *

 _ **Lucky Strike's Alter Ego: ah thank you so much! your support and love of this fic means so much to me and it gives me so much energy and fuel to keep on writing when i think of giving up (now is such a moment since it's 1am and i have to get up for work in a few hours oops) Poor Allie definitely is crushing hard but she just wont admit it since who WOULDNT blush around tony stark? he's the most handsome man in the world! and poor tony he's trying to be all suave and cool but like? he is honestly such a big softie? a boy who loves buying big teddy bears for his partner? like? honestly he's such a soft romantic who just wants to love people and be loved in return. and you shouldn't be nervous! if anything i was stunned when you left so many kind reviews on my story because i've read some of your work and im left reeling at how much of an amazing writer you are! i haven't had much time for anything these past few weeks but the times i have had time, i've been reading your fic! i havent managed to finish it and i want to make to the latest chapter before i could comment but to sum my feelings up eloquently: fhuaeilfhileruhfo;qerjf;iqoehf;oiqhfoi;hqoifjqwe;fhqwiofhlbfwhfbjewioh. there aren't many tony x oc fics that take my interest (well... there aren't many tony x oc fics to begin with...) but by the end of your first chapter i was hooked because it was so different to anything i've ever read? i mean i took the cliched route of oc becomes his assistant but hey, i like clichés. i'll be sure to try and finish the latest chapter (hello hour lunchbreak tomorrow - i mean, today). and this fic will cross into CA:CW but it will be towards the end of the story; HOWEVER! if you are looking for some iron dad and spider son fics, i have written some on AO3 under the username 'rad_sad'. there's a two part series that might be expanded in the future. (maybe not). good luck and keep writing!**_

 _ **: thank you so much! i know what you mean about slow burns! i absolutely cannot read anything but slowburns otherwise the relationship doesnt feel real to me but by like chapter 5 im screaming at them to just kiss already! and unfortunately, it's going to b time before anything happens between these two (i have up to chapter 36 planned and nope still nothing sorry). IM SO SO SO HAPPY THIS FIC IS INSPIRING PEOPLE TO WRITE THEIR OWN TONY X OC FIC! I LOVE TONY X OC FICS BUT THERE ARE NEVER ANY TONY X OC FICS! i am a simple person and i wish to be Supplied a simple thing and now? now im getting all the tony x oc fics i could ever dream of. i'll be sure to check it out since im always looking for stuff to do after im wrecked from work (i could write but... nah...). so the majority of this fic will take place before CW, and CW will take up a few chapters towards the end. this fic does happen during IW as well but that's the VERY end and... well... i have a few endings in mind and im trying to pick between them. thanks once more for reviewing and reading!**_

 _ **Anonymous: thank you so much! im so glad you enjoy the fic and i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the last!**_

 _ **BeccaSco: thank you! sometimes these two warm my cold dead heart with how cute they are. now NEXT chapter they will actually leave the compound because they cant always be cooped up inside. thanks for reading and for reviewing!**_

 ** _spacevoyage: thank you! im honestly still so shocked that so many people love my fic since i was always unsure about the quality of it fo S, but your words honestly mean so much to me and im glad that this fic is able to bring some happiness into the lives of others. thank you for always reading and supporting this fic!_**

 ** _Guest: thank you so much! i wish i had the energy to proof read but im so bad for it. need i say that this chapter is as unedited as the last few? because it is and i need to stop publishing unedited chapters but i cant help it. no proof reading we dye liek mwn. tony is honestly such a big sap and a softie at heart and no force on heart can change my mind. thank you so much for reviewing and for supporting this fic as it means the world to me!_**

 ** _guest: thank you so much! the development of the characters and their relationships are always something that is very important to me when writing and it's something i strive to put first over the plot (i mean... it's taken me how many words and how many chapters to prove this point? when will i ever move the plot forward? who knows? not me.) thank you so so so much for your kind words and im so glad that you enjoy reading this fic so much!_**

 _ **SunnyPanda: thank you so much! i was always worried about my interpretation of tony as a character but people seem to really enjoy him and it's such a huge relief! thank you so much for reading and reviewing!**_

 _ **Kara70: thank you so much! i hope the wait wasn't too bad and that this chapter makes up for the two weeks of not updating!**_

 _ **pinkeye: oh my goodness thank you so much! when i read your review i was so astounded that my fic is able to make people feel such happiness! i myself have never actually been in love or have ever had deep feelings for someone, so i was always worried about making the feelings in this story too... shallow? so i feel much more confident in my writing after reading your review and realising i dont need to be in love to be able to write about love; thank you so much for reviewing and reading as always!**_

 _ **CrystalVixen93: thank you so much and i hope that you enjoy this chapter as you have the last!**_

 _ **eden: thank you so much for reviewing! finally, with this chapter out of the way i can start the real progress of the story and tony and allie's relationship! unfortunately, things have grown distance between allie and lisa what with the two having other people in their lives (which is a first for allie.) but worry not! it shall not always be like this! hopefully. anyway thank you so much for reviewing and supporting this fic as always!**_

 _ **EunLi: oh my goodness thank you! i never thought i could make someone cry with my writing! i dont know if i should be sad about it myself or happy. maybe both? thank you so much for reading and reviewing!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you so so so so so much! i always strive to put relationship development over anything else and for a while there was no plot going on but after this chapter, the plot and the relationship development finally merge as one! thank you so much for reading and reviewing as always as it means a lot to me!**_

 _ **drmsqnc: thank you so much! i hope you enjoy this chapter like you have the rest of the story!**_

 _ **Gina: thank you so much! poor tony and allie, they're just going to ignore what ever feelings they have up until they can't any more. i hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **Guest: thank you so much and i hope the wait for this chapter wasn't too bad!**_

 _ **BlackWolfWanderlust: thank you so much! it still shocks me to read people say how much they love this story as i cant help but to constantly pick out flaws in it. but really, your support means everything to me!**_

 _ **trickstersink: oh my goodness thank you so so much for leaving such a lovely and kind review! i really am shocked when i see the response i get on this story because ive always been my own worst critic, but the feedback i get always gives me confidence! thank you so much for reading this story and for supporting it and i hope you continue to do so in the future!**_

* * *

 _ **Um, so, okay I know im like… two weeks late with an update but I have very good reason!**_

 _ **There are three reasons; the first is work. I now work two jobs and I work Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays now. Before I would only work usually Fridays and every other Saturday because I share those days with another girl. But I was asked by another place in town could I work the Saturdays that im not at my own place and my own place offered me more hours and a pay raise so I work three days of the week. After Christmas I will be working Wednesday straight through to Saturday and will only have Sunday to Tuesday off. That's only three days for writing and I take a long time to write.**_

 _ **Second is because I've been sick. I know I say this all the time, but I really was sick simply because I've been on treatment for my acne and it's making me nauseous – though im not supposed to take it if it does make me sick but I need it Gone ok.**_

 _ **And third is… well, it's because I REALLY didn't want to write this chapter. I considered skipping it altogether but there are some very important plot points in this that will come up later. I just dislike this chapter extremely because it's such a filler chapter and it's the final chapter before stuff actually starts happening – that we can actually start seeing changes and all that. I wrote nothing the first week I missed the update and I wrote only the dialogue in the second week and then I managed to force myself to write this chapter and it's one in the morning and I have to get up for work at twenty to nine.**_

 _ **But I really will try to not miss so many updates but I cant promise anything. Work is my biggest problem with writing and I never would have started this story unless I would have been sure I could finish it, but now with more hours at work and working another job, I feel a bit worried that it's going to become more frequent.**_

 _ **I will try to keep up with updates since I'm actually getting to the exciting things now! Sorry once more for missing the past two weeks! If you guys have any questions, don't be afraid to hit me up on my tumblr at 'starktohny'!**_

 _ **Quick question: does anyone play the VN desire and decorum? I binge played it from 1am to 6am last night and it's SO GOOD. I love my boy ernest sinclaire he was ready to murder a gross old man for me ah bless**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Thirteen._**

"I regret agreeing to do this," Stark said to Allie after a moment of silence, causing the younger woman to draw her eyes over to his slumped figure, taking in the sight of his slouched posutre as he slipped further and further down in the seat, glaring out into the world with his eyes just about peaking over the edge of the car door. Allie dropped her hands that held her phone, nearly tutting with disapporoval at his behaviour, wanting nothing more than to roll her eyes at him but refraining from doing so.

She had finally managed to lure him outside once more, the task becoming less stressful and harder to do each time; maybe it was because he was becoming more inclined to listen to what she said, or maybe it was because she was learning what to say in order to convince him to actually leave the Compound. For all the fuss Stark tried to put up, Allie couldn't actually tell if it bothered him or not as he didn't really seem all that annoyed in all honesty; she supposed that he was going it to maybe guilt her into being more sympathetic and to stop forcing him outside to get air every once in a while. Allie didn't like to think she was an important part in his life, but she half wondered if he would still lock himself away if she wasn't here, but pushed the thought from her mind to instead stretch her leg out to tap her high heeled foot against the side of Stark's shoe, pulling his attention to her as she tried not to smile at the sight of a ghost of a pout lingering on the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, don't be like that," she chided him, shaking her head and ignoring the way her hair tickled the back of her neck, the long, loose waves holding more of a shape with the extra care she had given to them that morning, taking the time to make her hair seem less like a rat's nest and something more... presentable, at least. She was dressed nicer, too, opting for a more professional look consisting of a navy blouse and pencil skirt with the heels on her feet threatening to become something difficult to withstand later in the day. Allie knew that wearing heels would be a pain in the ass but such is the price of beauty – and she had spent a lot of money on them, more than she cared to think about but she couldn't help it; they had been so pretty and she had finally felt brave enough to dip into her bank account to splurge a little, knowing that it was just a couple of dollars – or ninety.

With a grunt, Stark reluctantly pulled himself up to sit properly, shoulders low and mouth pursed into a straight line, displeased with either the situation or her words – or both. Allie still tried despertely to not tease him for holding a pout as his mouth deepened further into a frown, narrowing his eyes at her in an attempt to appear more serious. "Like what?"

"Like..." Allie began, pausing slightly and letting her eyes wash over him, taking in the sight of his three piece suit, the way his hair was perfectly styled and how he seemed more put together, less a mess of ratty shirts and tangled hair. " _That._ "

Her answer did little to loosen him up, eyes sharper and almost distrusting. "I'm being myself."

Allie gave a hum, dropping her eyes down to her phone screen again and taking on a teasing tone towards him. "Right..."

"You're cranky this morning," he commented with a low whistle but not longer slouching in his chair, pulling himself up properly and unwinding his shoulders to rid them of the tension that seemed to always plague him. There was a quirk at the corner of his mouth lingering, ghosting at the edges and he rested his elbow against the handle of the door, fingers curled around the raised corner of his mouth as if to hide the amusment that was embedded there. "Did you have your daily dose of being nice to Tony tea?"

"I can't," Allie sighed dramatically, pocketing her phone into the frustratingly small pouch at the front of her skirt, barely able to secure it in place with the tiny amount of space given to hold the device. "I think I'm allergic to it."

"What about being not mean to Tony tea?" he offered and she clicked her tongue, shaking her head but playing along nonetheless, no longer able to contain the breathy laugh that bubbled at the back of her throat; she much preferred him when he was in a lighter mood and less bogged down by his worries.

"I'll get some on the way back," she told him playfully.

Stark gave a hum, pulling himself upright so that his back was straight, spine like steel as he tugged at his collar, fixing it from where it lay around his neck as his hands fiddles with his tie, pulling it loose before tightening it once more, unsure of which way he liked it most before settling for the latter, moving instead to button up the jacket of his suit; Allie's eyes were unable to look away as they slid down to watch him slip a button through one of the small gaps along the opening, before doing the same with the remaining two and she looked away, feeling far too red and warm in the face, taking to reclaiming her phone and pretending to preoccupied with it as she stole small glances at him from the side, ignoring the annoying tickling of her hair on her cheek before he turned to face her, unaware that she had already been staring. "Alright, well, how do I look?"

Allie stared, wide eyed and wodnering if he was being serious with having her reply but as the silence dragged on, she knew that she would have to answer eventually, giving a small cough as she shifted in her seat, forcing herself to give him a once over glance for dramatic purposes before giving a half shrug, as if unbothered. "You look... nice."

He seemed somewhat offended by her reply, reeling back and blinking in shock. The reaction made the corner of Allie's lips turn upwards, the heat in her face oozing away. "'Nice'? Just ' _nice_ '?"

Allie sighed, rolling her eyes but turning to him, nonetheless, placing her phone into her lap and placing a look of suprise on her face. "Mr. Stark, you look absolutely ravishing and gorgeous today. Did you do something different with your hair? You outshine all of the stars, you could be a model."

He scoffed at the praise but seemed pleased with it all the same. "I _am_ a model."

"But you don't walk a runway or anything of the sort," she told him.

"Allison, the world is my runway."

"Well, you definitely have the ego of a model," Allie mumured with a snort beneath her breath, taking her phone once more in her hand and seeing Stark narrow his eyes towards her after her small mutter.

"What was that?" he asked, pulling Allie's wide, innocent eyes to him as she threw him a fake, sweet smile.

"I said you look very handsome today," she sang, batting her eyelashes and he nodded to her words, chest slightly puffed.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about," Stark said, a sigh lingering on the end of his words, giving a small sniff. "It's always nice to hear these things from people."

"If you have any suggestion, I'll make sure to work it in my daily ass kissing," she snorted.

"I'll make a suggestion list, stick on the fridge next to our banned phrases list."

"Moist isn't that bad of a word," she whined, remembering the day he had added it to their growing list which had started out as a joke but was turning into one of the most serious aspects of their relationship; even now, she couldn't help but suppress a laugh while watching as his face scrunched up slightly at her saying so.

"Neither is pus."

Allie blanched instantly, ignoring the need to recoil and gag at the sound of it before turning to glare at him with a fire in her eyes. "That's a banned word! You're not allowed to say it!"

"You said your one first!" he shot back with an accusing tone, waggling his finger at her and Allie huffed, relenting.

"Touché," she said, defeated before reaching up to scratch an itch from a stray stand that was tickling her, getting more annoyed at the long and loose tresses, a curtain on eac side that were being confined behind either ear. Allie then remembered the hair tie she had slipped onto her wrist that very morning, just in case, and was glad that she had done so, not being to withstand having her hair down no matter the occasion. "Anyways, we should go over a few things before we go in."

"Do we have to?" he complained, once more slumping in his seat as if remembering the reason they were here, reverting back to his previous, unhappy self that he been moments before hand.

"I don't want you nudging me every ten minutes asking me when we have to leave," she chimed in and his eyes snapped her instantly.

"So long as you don't keep pestering me to see everything inside," was his sharp and Allie frowned, placing her phone in her lap with the screen facing towards her, the text large enough for her to read without needing her glasses as she pulled the thin black band around her wrist free, twisting and twirling it in her fingers.

"I don't do that," she doubted and he raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. She really didn't do that... did she?

"And _I_ don't nudge you every ten minutes." Ah, maybe she did.

Giving him an unamused look, Allie paused in her fidgeting with the hair tie to gesutre to her phone. "May I, Mr. Stark?"

"Yes, dear," he sighed, the world slipping out and stilling Allie for a brief moment, unsure of what to say or how to respond back before her voice spilled forth without her consent.

"Well, sweetheart – "

Laughter left his lips instantly, a hand reaching up to press his lips against his mouth in order to stop the sudden tide leaving him, eyes bright and thoroughly impressed by her inability to back down and to remain unperturbed by his words. Allie felt a surge of pried fill her, at being quick to think or maybe the fact she had actually made him _laugh_ so suddenly, so freely as she had then rather than hearing a sour and cynical bark that he might be inclined to give every once in a while. "Oh, you are quick, Allison."

Allie swallowed, trying not to give away her compusure as she gave a sly smile, letting it curl onto her lips slowly while her fingers resumed the fidgeting with her hair tie to stem the sudden burst in her chest, rushing through her veins and making them buzz beneath her skin. "I have a feeling I'd have to be around you, Mr. Stark."

"I have a feeling you already are when you aren't around me, Allison."

Allie could feel her breath halt in her throat, stilling as her heart did as a bout of unsure laughter left her, hand reaching up to sweep away a few stray strands back behind her ear as she slipped a curtain of hair back over her shoulder. "True, very true."

"Continue on," Stark indicating, leaning back into his seat once more and adopting a relaxed stance, fingers pressed to his mouth and eyes on her as she ignored the dryness in her mouth. Her heart jumped, moving from not beating at all to becoming too much for her to bear. Her hands were slick and she couldn't think properly, taking to staying down at the screen of her phone as she tried to move past the moment; she could barely even classify it as being a _moment_ but that did not mean her heart could be shaken as if it were. Allie cleared her throat and began to ramble, hands reaching up to grab her hair to tie it off on the nape of her neck.

"Anyways, as I was saying, so we're actually already a few minutes late but it's not a big problem," she told him, taking the black hair tie off of were it rested around her fingers to tie it around her hair, finally free of the niggling and whispering strands that tickled her cheeks. "You actually don't have anything else planned for the day because of how long this thing goes on for – which will be for _very_ long, until half five in the evening, I think; and it's, what, half ten now? Of course we don't _have_ to stay if you don't want to, and I'm always near in case you want to leave – "

His voice was sudden, cutting her off mid-sentence and pulling her gaze back towards him. "Why do you do that?"

Allie stared, unsure and confused as her face pinched together, trying to make sense of what he was saying and trying to recall if she had done something strange, but falling short of any possibility of doing so. "Uh... do what, exactly?"

" _That_ ," he told her, still unclear in what he was trying to ask before he gestured to her head, hand waving about and looking truly confused, as if she had done some great feat that no mortal could ever accomplish. Allie continued to look at him, befuddled and with puzzlement in her eyes before he said the words with a strained voice, as if it pained him to actually say what he wanted to ask her. "You always tie your hair up even if you wear it down."

"Oh," was all Allie could say; that was... not what she was expecting, not what she thought he was ever going to say to her. It sent Allie stumbling for words, stuttering for a moment because _he can't be serious, can he?_ Oh, but he looked it, looked ready for her answer and for an explanation that Allie couldn't believe she was giving. Her mouth opened once, twice, three times before her voice croaked out, higher than she had anticipated or wanted. "Well... it gets annoying and I always feel like it gets greasy if I keep pawing at it. Plus, it's a habit I picked up from my last job."

Allie was unsure if he was pleased with the answer, remain calm and collected, face cool and not giving away anything that might be running through his mind before he gave a sharp, curt nod and hummed. "Right."

"Why are you asking?" Allie asked, curious yet mistrusting, as if he was going to say something strange to throw her off. For a moment he stared, a heart beat's pause as he said nothing, eyes glued to hers before he cleared his throat, shifting in his seat and fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt.

"Oh, no reason, I was just curious," he told her as Allie stared, confused and mouth opened to further inquire before he cut her off before she could have the chance to do so. "Your hair looks nice down."

Oh.

 _Oh._

Allie's mouth might have dropped open if she was a weaker woman, but neither was she a strong one a sharp breath cut through her, rushing down her throat before stilling, leaving her unable to breath as her ears rang with the echo of his words, doubtful of her own ability to hear and sceptic of her mind and that it might be playing games on her.

Yet, Allie watched as his lips formed those words, leaving his mouth to reach her ears for her brain to process but she still remained astonished, trying to say something, _anything_ to him but not finding it within her to do so. It wasn't until she saw him squirm, looking away from Allie that she realised she had not yet answered and the prolonged silence was weighing on them, more so him than her as he seemed just as shocked – maybe even more so – as Allie that he had said that, had actually told her that she looked nice with her hair down. And it was such a small, insignificant compliment! Allie couldn't believe she was getting worked up over it but even the smallest pebble can cause the biggest fall. Allie turned away, stringing together a sentence as best as she could on her scrambled mind before turning back to him, a forced grin on her face and her voice pulling his eyes back to her. "Thank you."

"No need to be so shocked, I _am_ able to give out compliments, you know," Stark teased, but his voice was awkward, unsure and leaving Allie still being unable to form a long and proper response, still reeling from his previous words and finding her mind short circuiting, sparks catching onto words she might have said instead before they were turned to ash in her mouth. Stark gave a weak smile, and Allie was half positive that the flush on his cheeks were a trick of the eyes, a misjudgement due to the fact she was without her glasses. "I'm not so in love with myself as people say."

Allie was still staring, mouth gaping wide as a half strangled gasp found its way to her lungs, easing the burn that was buried there as she untangled her tongue, trying to remember that she had a voice and she could use to to say things. But she didn't know how to speak, what to say in response to that because that was the _last_ thing she was every expecting him to say, the last thing she thought possible to fall from his lips. "Well... thank you nonetheless, Mr. Stark."

"Carry on there, Ms. Lawrence, though start at the beginning – I wasn't paying attention, to be honest with you," Stark said to her, clearing his throat and a hand went to his tie, tugging at it and slipping it back up into place as Allie continued to stare, still somewhat in half disbelief at his words, at the fact he had given her a compliment. She knew that if Lisa had been beside her, or if she had even told her friend, then she might have told Allie that being paid compliments by your _boss_ was not something to feel grateful for.

But it wasn't as if Allie had never paid him a compliment before – granted, she might have done so after teasing or done so in a sarcastic manner, but she had still meant it even if he didn't know that. Her words became clogged at the back of her throat, staring at Stark and ignoring how flushed her face felt, glad that he had taken to staring out the window again so that he would not have to see how red she was at that moment; Allie couldn't help but glance down, looking to her phone once more and gave a small cough to unloosen all the clumped words that were lumped together in the back of her throat and to free the way for her voice. Her stomach felt tight, knotting into tangles that scrambled her ability to think and form proper sentences and Allie's tongue darted out to run over her bottom lip, sucking in a sharp and deep breath in through her parted mouth in order to steel herself. It was just a compliment, she had been complimented before, had been flirted with before – no, it was hardly a _flirt._ Allie had been flirted with before and that wasn't a flirt; he had simply told her that her hair was nice down! Hardly something that could be seen as a flirt.

She peeked at him through her eyelashes, barely catching a glimpse before she looked down again, giving a stronger cough as she recollected herself; slowly, her hand began to snake its way back up to where she had tied her hair, index finger slipping in beneath the hairtie to tug it down and let loose her wavy tresses, nearly wincing at the feeling of one particular strand becoming caught before she pulled it free. Slipping the small band around her wrist once more, Allie hooked her fringe behind her ear and began once more from the top, though her voice was as unsteady as her heart.

* * *

The sun was falling lower in the sky, dripping orange and red as Allie tried not to wince with each step she took. Rather than going home, she elected to return with Stark to the Compound, mainly because she wanted to finish a few things had meant to finish the evening before hand but found little energy to do so. Her shoes pinched her toes, biting and gnawing at her feet with each step and each movement she made, face screwed up and hopping from leg to leg to relieve herself of the niggling annoyance that were her heels. They had left early, partly at his insistance and partly because Allie felt that at any given moment, her legs were going to collapse under her if she stayed standing for any longer.

By the time she had gotten to the elevator with him, her face pinched with every step, mouth pursed into a straight line as she tried to convince herself that every step she made was a step closer to sitting down and no longer having to wear these beautiful mosntrosities any longer. Stark was having too much enjoyment out of watching Allie suffer and she glared at him whenever he would glance back to see her struggling, snorting at the sight but refraining from making a comment. Allie leant against the side of the elevator, trying desperately to lift some of the weight from her feet but achieving very little success at doing so, gritting her teeth and trying to tell herself _pain is beauty_. No amount of beauty was worth the pain in the ass these shoes were and Allie was never more glad to return to her place of work as when the sound of a sharp _ding!_ Echoed through the small space, maw opening wide as a breath of relief left Allie. Pushing herself to sstand straight once more, Allie winced as she took a few steps out, following Stark before it became next to unbearable.

"Ow, ow, _ow._ Hold on a moment," Allie hissed, wobbling back and forth as he paused to look back at her, eyebrow raised as Allie attempted to slip the shoes from her feet, shaking unsteadily on one foot as she did so and nearly falling before he stepped back towards her, extending an arm to Allie to help her keep her balance; Allie gratefully grasped his arm, regaining her balance as she did so and slipped off one heel before ripping its twin from the other foot, the cool ground soothing her aches instantly as a large smile graced her lips, once more at her usual height before taking her hand back once more from Stark's arm. "Ah, much better. I can actually walk again."

"Why wear them if they're only going to hurt?"

"Because I paid a lot of money for them," Allie explained, grateful for the coldness of the floor beneath her as she hooked her fingers in her shoes, letting them swing at her side as Stark reached up to loosen his tie, pulling it from its tight position around his neck and shrugging his jacket off from his shoulders, draping it over the back of a chair. Allie's toes wriggled on the ground, enjoying the frigidness of it as it seeped into her sore and aching feet. "And I like to feel tall for a while."

He paused in his actions before nodding approvingly at her explanation and he sat down into the chair holding his jacket. "Now _that_ is something I can relate to."

Allie flashed him a grin before stooping to kick her shoes in underneath her desk, grabbing the back of her chair and wheeling it out before plopping herself down, the chair gliding slowly on the ground as she curled her toes inwards, stretching them as her arms spread out before a chill rushed over her, making Allie pull herself tighter together as she sat opposite from Stark, the older man watching her as did so. "Sweet relief! I'm never getting up from this chair ever again."

"That's just being lazy," he tutted, shaking his head at her words and Allie's grin dropped, untrusting of his words as she set a hand on her hip, a finger pointed towards Stark as she frowned. He seemed positively far too entertained by her posture and actions for her liking.

"I'll have you know it takes a lot of work to remain seated for as long as possible," Allie sniffed, leaning back into her chair once more and draping her arms across her chest, slumping slightly so that the balls of her feet were pressed to the ground, one leg over the other as she swung back and forth slightly, casting him a sharp look. "You wouldn't even be able to win against me."

Stark gave a snort, rolling his eyes at Allie and her veiled threat, matching her stance by crossing his arms over his chest and staring right back at her with narrowed and pick like eyes, trying to see if she'll break away from the stare first but Allie remains where she is, eyes glued to Stark's with a spine made of steel and smirking before he flickered his gaze back up to the ceiling with another scoff, half shaking his head and looking as if he wanted to laugh.

"Really? Win against you in a battle of _sitting_ , of all things? Don't be childish," he responded before a pause rang through between his words, eyes drifting back to Allie's with a new seriousness lingering at the edges of his gaze, a dip in his cheek as if he was chewing on it from the inside. "How long are we talking?"

Allie barely manages to contain a sharp, bouncy laugh, quashing it before it can leave her mouth as a grin takes its place, all straight and white teeth beaming as her hands clap together, feeling overtly happy that he was deciding to get in on her, as he had called it, childishness. "As long as possible."

He ponders for a moment, a look of worry on his face. "What if I need to go to the bathroom?"

"Then be creative," she advised, much to his distaste.

There's another pregnant pause, a beat of silence as Allie's hands remain clasped together, leg jumping slightly as they hold eye contact, his gaze sharpened and thinking as Allie's is awaiting his response, much rather preferring the stupidy of the situation to sitting down at her desk and having to work; at least this way, she might be mildly entertained rather than overtly annoyed. Then, Stark gives a huff, giving a lift of his shoulders as if to show he was relenting. "Alright, what's the wager?"

"We're actually doing this?" Allie laughed. "I don't know whether to feel excited or sad."

"Oh, it's sad, definitely sad there's no doubt about that, but we're definitely doing this," he agreed, nodding along before using his feet to glide along the floor, moving his chair to beside Allies as she spun to face him head on, hands still wrapped around each other as she uncrossed her legs, the tips of her toes pressed against the cool ground as she pushed herself upright into her chair. "I'm never one to back down from a good honest wager."

It was stupid, absolutely ridiculous and Allie was having a hard time believing that they were supposed to be two adults with the way they were going on; she supposed everyone needed a small bit of innocent fun in their life and she began to swing back and forth on her chair, pressing a finger to her chin and tapping it, feigning deep thought as she chewed her bottom lip.

"How about..." she began, words drifting off as her eyes found their way up towards the ceiling, squinting slightly out of habit from not wearing her glasses before her fingers snapped together, a sharp _click_ echoing throughout as she turned her gaze back to Stark's, the shit eating grin on her face beaming. "If I win, I get any day that I ever ask for off – "

"Unable to stand my company?"

"Can't get enough of it, Mr. Stark," Allie sighed dramatically, moving to place her hands on her heart and she fluttered her eyelashes at him, laying the sweetness of her appearance on thickly before he gave a bark of laughter, shaking his head as he did so before settling down once more, a gleam lingering in the browns and golds of his eyes.

"And if I win?" he asked and Allie's smile fell, stumped as she gave a shrug of her shoulders, dropping her hands down into her lap once more.

"Well... I don't know," she told him, a teasing twinkle in her eyes. "Haven't thought of that possibility yet."

"You underestimate my abilites, Allison," he gasped and Allie's face screwed up in confusion.

"Your abilities..." Allie began, drifting off and making sure she had heard him right. "To sit?"

"Exactly," he nodded in agreement. "I'll probably think of something during the time this goes on. Be prepared, Allison."

"Oh, I'm always prepared, _darling_ ," Allie smirked, tacking on the term of endearment that wasn't really one for good measure, an echo of his words earlier that only seemed to spur Stark on into becoming more invested in their innocent wager; Allie reached her hand out towards Stark initiate a small handshake, and he glanced down at it for a brief moment before a playful sneer found its way onto his mouth, his own hand reaching out to clasp hers in his, palm rough and calloused against Allie's own with the paleness of her skin appearing even more so as it stood out against the golden tan of his hand. They gave a firm, brief shake of their entwined hands, gripping the other and appearing as if they had agreed to a serious manner rather than butting heads in a game of innocent fun.

"May the best person win, _dear_ ," he teased, giving her hand a squeeze that Allie returned with a sharp and sly smile.

"Oh, I will."

* * *

It was maybe two and a half, maybe three hours later when the boredom got to Allie. She sat slumped in her chair so that the balls of her bare feet were just about touching the ground, allowing her to continue her spinning slowly in circles with her head fallen on the back of the chair, hair falling loose and free over it. Her eyes had long since adjusted to the brightness of the lights on the ceiling and the sun had set properly moments ago, the hazy orange barely bleeding through the window and staining the room with a golden hue with yellow fingers catching on dust moats that glittered in the light.

Stark was not too far away from her, mimicking her position and she found that the longer they stayed, the more couragous she felt in wanting to poke and prod away at him in order find out more about him. Allie's back felt stiff as she pulled herself into a proper position, wincing at her sore muscles and her cold feet that were now only throbbing with a dull, bearable ache as she resed them on the plastic legs of her chair, leaning forward to place her elbows on her knees to cup her chin on her palms, watching Stark as he was unaware of her stare as he lay back, eyes closed and looking peaceful.

For a moment, Allie thought he might be asleep but he shifted in his chair, trying to find a comfortable spot and gave a sigh, hands reaching up to rub whatever tiredness that might have seeped into his eyes away, seemingly annoyed at his inability to sleep. Allie continued to watch him, staring at his previous perfectly pressed and clean attire that was now rumpled, sleeves rolled up to the crook of his elbow and revealing more of his tanned skin, of small scars and muscles. His hair was messier now, too, as if he had run his hands through it a million and one times when she wasn't looking, which she knew might be very plausible. Around his neck, his tie hung loose and a top button lay unopened, allowing Allie to catch a glimpse of just that bit _more,_ letting her see more of him than she normally have. And, for a tiny moment, Allie had half a mind and even more courage to tell him that she had meant what she said in the car, meant that he was handsome but he must have felt her eyes trained on her because he turned his gaze to meet Allie's and that courage withered away to nothing, dust in her mouth.

They held the tired stare for a moment, as if unsure which one was going to speak forst before Allie bit the bullet. "Since we're going to be here a while, mind if I ask you something?"

He raised a brow at her, remaining his awkward and slumped position for a moment longer before reluctantly sitting up, hand reaching to his back and to ease his stiff and sore muscles, taking his time to reply.

"Why bother asking that? We both know you're going to ask me regardless," he said to Allie, not sounding as defensive as he had during their last round of questioning; still, Allie waited for a confirmation or a refusal, hanging onto her tongue and her silence made Stark look to her again, giving a roll of the eyes and a deep exhale that might have been a chuckle if he had the energy, giving a wave of his free hand before crossing it over his chest over the other one. "But yes, if you must, then do so."

She let her silence drag on, wondering if she should really ask this question or not but curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to fill the tired silence with something instead risk falling asleep; she didn't want Tony Stark to catch her drooling in her sleep, she might die of the shame.

"Why become a superhero?" Allie asked, not bothering to dodge around the question or ease into it as she had neither the energy or patience to do it; yet, as the words left her mouth, she almost wished she had as, at an instant, Stark's face screwed up, crinkles appearing along his nose and eyes at her question and Allie frowned. "What's with the face?"

"That word – superhero," he all but spat, disliking the taste it left in his mouth and his face scrunched up even further, as if it was sour and too bitter for his liking. Allie stared in confusion at him, and he gave an exasperated sigh, a wave of his hand. "Sounds like something from a comic book."

Allie raised her eyebrows at him, straightening her back in her chair and letting the frown deepen where it sat on her face. "Usually, superheroes are only in comic books."

"Well, this isn't a comic book," he snorted and Allie could sense the bitterness that lingered in his voice, or maybe she imagined it, she was tired and exhauted enough to do so. Her eyes spied the way his arms across his chest tightened, hands appearing to scrunch the material of his dress shirt in his palm without caring if it left creases or not. "And I'm not a superhero."

Allie chewed on her words before speaking, voice hushed and soft at the edges. He couldn't possibly see himself as not being a hero, right? After all he had done, after all the people he saved and continues to save, to say he was a superhero was a word Allie felt fitted him aptly. "Could have fooled me."

"I'm not that great of an actor," he snorted but there was a wispiness to his voice, an underlining gentleness Allie had never hear or never thought possible and she gazed at him for a moment, biting her lip and trying to recollect her mind and thoughts in order to try and make him _see._

She moved her chair closer to him, as if to add weight to her words, but remained some bit away to allow some space between them, to give him the breathing room she thought he might want rather than pushing herself into his personal bubble to get her words across to him. "I'm just saying, a lot of the stuff you do could be categorised as being stuff superheroes do."

He seemed unbothered by her closing the distance and Allie edged herself closer to him, hands gripping the sides of her chair as he looked at her with genuine curiosity. "What stuff?"

Allie felt the need to ask him if he was being serious but stopped herself from doing so before she could as a small, gentle smile nestled itself onto her mouth, hands unwinding from the sides of her chair as she began to tick off her small list with each finger. "Helping people, saving lives, protecting New York and the rest of the world."

Stark gave a small chuckle of disbelief, shaking his head at her explanation and she dropped her hands into her lap, pouting at having her reasoning for him being a superhero brushed aside by his sudden inability to take a compliment. "The same thing doctors and nurses and firemen and police do."

"Not on the scale you do," she reaffirmed, stubborn in her stance and refusing to relent to him.

"Saving the world doesn't make a person a superhero. Sometimes saving one life can make a person just that."

"And you've saved millions, me included," Allie replied tenderly, and his eyes drew to her, uncertainity in his eyes and looking as if he wanted to believe what she was saying but fought against it.

"I don't see myself as... as being a superhero," he told her quietly, a soft murmur that would never leave this room, that would never leave her mouth for another human being to hear. He heaved a sigh, looking down. "If anything, I think I'm just the opposite."

Allie shook her head, her gaze growing softer by the second at seeing him let out a sliver of vulnerability, of allowing her to witness just that bit _more_ of him than she thought would be possible. To her, he was the epitome of a good man and a good hero, for sacrifcing himself time and time again and never asking for anything in return. Allie could even feel a small lump form in the back of her throat but managed to speak through it, hoping he wouldn't catch on. "Well, I don't."

"Thanks for the compliment," Stark said but as he continued on, Allie couldn't help but pick up on the cynicism lingering in his tone, dripping off of the tip of his tongue and too bitter to taste. "But I don't think men like me would make very good superheroes."

"Men like you?" Allie repeated and watched as he stiffened, as if he had not intended to say that.

And he didn't say anything for a second, jaw clenched and gritting his teeth before he choked out what he intended to say. "Men who aren't like Captain America."

His reply floored Allie for a moment, as she hadn't expected to hear his response said in such a... sullen tone filled with what she thought to be animosity. She wanted to prod further on this sudden revelation but decided not to, in fear of upsetting him or ripping open a wound that she had no idea even existed. "Then why decide to help people?"

"Because it was the right thing to do," Stark said, but he sounded weary, tired, worn at the edges from having exhaustion always eat away at him. "Because I could do something."

"It must be hard," Allie stated sadly, watching as he took to staring at his hands instead. "Willingly putting your life on the line and not having people acknowledge it always."

He shook his head at her words, not yet meeting her eyes, more so speaking to himself rather than as a reply intended for her. "I don't do it for gratitude."

"Well, thank you, nonetheless," Allie said suddenly, voice tender but making Stark snap his eyes to her in disbelief, shock, looking as if he felt she was mocking him. Did he truly not think he was, as she had insisted, a superhero? There was a twinge in her heart, a cord around it tightening ever so slightly as he continued to stare at her, a mixture of emotions in his eyes as she continued to speak. For doing what you do. And for being a superhero."

He didn't say anything for a moment, as if waiting fo rher to retract her words but when she remained silent, Stark gave a cough and looked away. "Can I ask _you_ something?"

"Always, Mr. Stark," Allie reassured him, ignoring the way her hands returned to gripping the sides of the chair once more, nails nearly breaking underneath the pressure she was placing on them.

"Why accept this job?"

Allie leaned back into her chair, suprised by the question but not against answering it. "Pardon?"

"You were right in not wanting to accept," he told her, eyebrows knitting together more and more as he spoke, as if he became more convinced by what he was saying. "You had no training, no experience. You had no idea what this job would be about and yet... you accepted. Why?"

The last word echoed with Stark turning to meet her gaze with puzzlement and a need for an answer lingering in them. Allie floundered for a brief second, unsure of what to say; it wasn't hard to answer, per say, but she knew the answer she would give would be one that was not wholly the truth and Allie found herself being unable to lie to him, being unable to say what she should say because he had been so _honest_ with her about everything she asked and how could she do that to him? Treat him thus after he had been nothing but kind and truthful?

Tongue tied, Allie gave a wry smile and attempted to dodge the question, knowing that she would not succeed even if she tried. "I could ask why you offered me the job in the first place if you knew I had no training or experience."

"Call it curiosity."

"Curiosity?" Allie repeated, mystified.

"A young woman manages to bypass my server while drunk," he said casually, recounting it as if it were a tale and not an embarrassing way of meeting. Already, Allie could feel her cheeks heating up as he spoke. "One doesn't come across that kind of talent every day."

"Well then," Allie sighed, a sly grin curving its way onto her face. "I guess you could say it was curiosity for me, too. That and money."

"And not my amazing and dashing looks?" he offered and a chortle left her.

"Ha, ha," she snorted but did not deny nor agree that had been the case. Of _course_ she didn't take a job because she thought him to be handsome, but she supposed it would be funny to watch him suffer and languish over the possibility that it might be. Already, his brow darted up and he looked ready to expand on it before Allie turned away, wheeling herself towards the kitchen and letting her back face him, thinking about the challenge she was to face in order to remove herself from the conversation. "Want a drink? I feel like a hot drink right about now."

Instead of trying to coax her back into the conversation, he let it drop and gave a shout of hisd reply. "I would love some of that weird tea you always make."

"It's not _weird,_ " Allie snapped, whizzing her chair to glared at him, only to catch him not feeling quite intimidated by her. "It's the _right_ way of drinking tea. It's about time you were cultured properly."

* * *

Tony watched her go, feeling thoroughly entertained as she scooted herself away to make herself and him a drink. Part of him felt lighter, felt less bogged down by the thoughts that weighed like steel in his mind and dragged him down to dark places after managing to choke out lead like words to Allie, half surprised that he had done so in the first place.

It seemed that the world was turning in his favour that day as he heard a ding behind him, spinning on his chair to catch sight of none other than his one and only friend making his way through the opening doors; well, he wouldn't say that he wasn't glad to see Rhodey and a grin split across his face at the sight of his friend, feeling that it had been far too long since he had heard from or spoken to him.

"Rhodey!" Tony exclaimed. "What, what are you doing here?"

"No hello? No 'how are you, Rhodey?'" Rhodey laughed, reaching down to clap his hand on Tony's shoulder. "You need to work on your manners."

"My manners are excellent, for your information," Tony retorted, almost going to stand before he remembered his reason for sitting and hoped that his friend wouldn't pick up on it for as long as he was here – or for as long as possible. "It's just usually when you're here without any word before hand it's either the world is ending or that it's about to end."

"It isn't always like that," Rhodey shrugged but a smirk lingered at the corner of his mouth as he stuffed his hands into the pocket of his pants. "Sometimes I visit when only a small portion of the world is ending."

Tony chuckled at his friends words, peering up at him before he leant back in his chair, though feeling he was glad his friend was here, he was suspicious of the visit, knowing that either it was just a friendly visit – or something was wanted of him. At least Rhodey did give friendly visits and didn't just pester Tony for the latter. "So, what can I do for you? Is Rogers in desperate need of something and sent you down here to mediate?"

Rhodey shook his head at Tony, clicking his tongue. "I'm not acting as a messenger between you two."

"Right," Tony agreed and taking a moment of silence before clicking his fingers. "If he really wanted something, he would send Natasha down instead."

"The team is actually on a mission now, investigating weapon shipments," Rhodey explained to him before giving Tony _that look_ , the one that made Tony feel as if he was seventeen all over again, a messy teen who did shit he most certainly should not have with his mother echoing _I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed._ Tony still marvelled at how well Rhodey was able to replicate that very same look Maria Stark once used to give him. "Something you would know if you actually felt the need to leave and talk to them every once in a while."

"And why would I do that? I keep up with what the team does perfectly fine down here; and, for your information, I do leave. I left today to attend something."

"I noticed," Rhodey said, gesturing to Tony's dressed up attire, even if it was a little rumpled in comparison to what it was a few hours ago. "What was it? A date?"

"Some event for, and I might be wrong on this," Tony explained, clearing his throat and reciting the title exactly as Allie had drilled into his head much to his chargin. "The protection of animals directly affected by the Attack. Don't look at me like that, I didn't even want to go."

The look of amusement was wiped from Rhodey's face as he gave a cough, moving from foot to foot and not looking completely sympathetic for Tony. "Then why did you?"

Before Tony could reply, a voice from the kitchen shouted out, followed by the scraping of wheels against the ground and both of the men turned to see Allie wheel herself out towards them, being mindful of the two hot drinks she had clutched in her hands and her feet barely being able to touch the ground to move her forward. "Hot liquid incoming! Oh, Colonel Rhodes! I didn't... see you there."

She had finally looked up to see Rhodey, screeching to a halt and nearly spilling everything, turning red from her behaviour and from having not noticed Rhodey earlier; Tony stifled a laugh and turned towards his friend, seeing that his face was much warmer than it had been the first time the two met and a sense of relief that he didn't understand flooded through him as Rhodey reassured Allie. "It's quite alright."

"Sorry," Allie blushed, inching forward so that her chair was side by side with Tony's as an awkward laugh left her. "That seems to be a habit of mine."

Rhodey's eyes dropped to the chair Allie was in, taking note of how she scooted along with it and Tony cursed at his friend inwardly, knowing that time was up. "What's with the sitting?"

"Hm?" Tony asked, feigning innocence but Rhodey didn't buy it for a second and neither did Tony expect him.

"What are you doing?"

"Absolutely nothing, Rhodey," Tony reassured with wide innocent eyes that Allie reflected, succeeding the most out of the two but Rhodey knew better than to believe the two of them, let alone Tony alone. "We are just two normal people who just happen to like sitting after a long day of walking and standing. Poor Allison had to do so in heels."

"It was very painful and not something I recommend to anyone," Allie agreed sadly with a small nod of her head but the two were self admitted bad actors and were doing little to hide their grins.

"How long ago was that?" Rhodey asked, appearing more and more like a parent who had caught both his children with their hands in the cookie far.

"Well, we slipped away early at around... what time was it?" Tony asked, turning to face Allie who screwed her face up to think on it for a moment before facing him.

"I think it was quarter to five," Allie said, before her face dropped. "I remember because all the cheese crackers I liked were gone by half four."

Before Tony could have the chance to divert the conversation to _that_ , Rhodey piped up once more. "So... you've been like this... for three hours?"

"Wow, three hours already?" Allie whistled, giving an impressed small nod of her head.

"Time flies when you're having fun," Tony sang and Allie rolled her eyes, turning to face him with a teasing tone in her voice.

"Oh, I was thinking it was more like thirteen hours."

"And here I thought we were bonding and everything."

Rhodey's voice snapped, bringing the two back to face him rather than leaning into each other and never had Tony ever seen his friend look so done before. "Tony, get up."

Tony didn't speak for a moment and he wanted nothing more to tell Allie to get rid of the grin on her face as he spied it growing wider and wider from the corner of his eyes.

"I can't," he croaked out and Rhodey raised his brow.

"What do you mean you _can't_?"

"I mean I _can't._ Don't do this, Rhodey," Tony's voice was a whisper, begging his friend as Allie did a terrible job of keeping the smile off of her face, grinning on as Tony stared up at his unmerciful friend.

" _Up_ ," Rhodey commanded, voice too much like Colonel Rhodes and not his friend; Tony thought to not listen but he knew that if he didn't, Rhodey would pull him to his feet himself. Tony turned to glance at Allie, hoping for some back up but she continued to let a grin split across her face, not bothering to even pity Tony as he gave a curse and a groan, standing to his feet as slowly as he could. The second he was visibly off the chair, still with bent knees and hunched over, Allie jumped to her feet, victorious.

"Yes! I win!" Allie exclaimed with a large smile, the drinks sloshing in the cups and Rhodey stared on, confused by Allie's outburst as Tony remained indignant, standing to his full height with a displeased look on his face while turning to Rhodey, his friend continuing to appear absolutely and completely befuddled by the whole ordeal, from Allie's sudden ecstatic fuelled shout of victory to Tony's peeved expression.

"Great, thanks, now you made me lose."

"I was just about to give up and everything because I need to go to the bathroom super badly," Allie announced before the two men looked to her, her mouth snapped shut as she winced at the realisation at what she said, lifting her arms up sharply and causing the tea to futher slosh about. "I regret sharing that now."

"Try not to spill the tea, _dear_ ," Tony warned, the word slipping out before he could stop himself and he froze, feeling Rhodey turn his eyes to rest solely on Tony as Allie remained oblivious – either of her own choice or because she hadn't realised the words slipping from his mouth either.

"I won't, _darling_ ," Allie shot back, not aware of the burning stare Rhodey had on the two as her face scrunched up, standing awkwardly as she held the two cups out for Tony to take, her hand slipping out from under his as she began squirming back and forth on the spot. "Here, take it from me, I need to go, _now_."

With that, Allie turned on her heel and rushed away, not caring to look back and leaving Tony alone to suffer Rhodey's stare, feeling as if a fire might start at the back of his head. He took his time, placing the drinks down on over onto the table and placing some space between him and his friend before Tony sucked in a large breath, turning to face Rhodey head on and seeing exactly what he dreaded on his friend's face.

"You're doing it again," Tony chimed, watching as Rhodey's face fell, void of any emotion.

"I know I am."

"I don't like it when you get all disapproving with me," Tony pouted but his mind screamed at him to stop, to at least try and keep the situation in hand, but when had he ever listened to the small, sensible part of his mind? "You're not as fun."

"Is this a joke to you?" Rhodey snapped, growing more and more irritated by Tony.

"Do you see me laughing?" Tony retorted but Rhodey's face did not lighten up or unwind; if anything, he grew more impatient and serious with Tony, bringing his hands together and pressing his fingers to his mouth, as if trying to control the urge he had to smack Tony around the back of the head before he gestured his clasped hands towards his friend, desperately trying to maintain civility and niceness.

"I'm trying... I'm trying to be as nice as I possibly can, Tony – " Rhodey began before Tony cut him off, not liking where this conversation was going, already being able to imagine where it might lead to in his head and wanting very much to divert that course as best as he could, still failing all the same when he tried.

"Every time you say that, you usually aren't."

That seemed to be the last straw in Rhodey managing to keep his temper underwraps as he threw his hands up in the air, one hand going to place itself on his hip as the other pinched the bridge of his nose, no longer bothering to keep his voice cool and collected. "Oh, for God's sake, Tony, for once can you just listen to what I'm trying to say?"

"Why, so you can make something that isn't even happen seem like it's happening?" Tony snapped back, equally unpleased with his friend as he was with Tony and Rhodey looked to him, the other hand going to match its twin on the opposite him, a brow raised towards Tony for an answer.

"Well, is it happening?"

Tony screwed his face up, muttering beneath his breath as he shook his head, arms going over his chest as he took to looking at the ground, half wishing Allie would show up and yet feeling glad that she wasn't here so that she would not have to fall victim of hearing such a conversation. "If I wanted another lecture, I would have called up Rogers."

"I'm trying to be your friend, but you're acting like a child," Rhodey snapped, pulling Tony's back towards him as his hansds gripped the material of his dress shirt, scrunching it in his palm in order to quell the flare of anger he felt; Tony despised how quick his temper was, was always afraid that if someone stoked the fire well enough, he would see an echo of his father in the mirror, the reflection all too much like the man that continued to haunt the worst of his nightmares. The flames burned Tony's throat as he clenched his jaw.

"I'm trying to tell you that nothing is happening, but you keep thinking that there is!" Tony spat.

"If you saw it from my perspective, you would think the same!"

"Christ, Rhodes," Tony said in disbelief, dropping his arms to his sides. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"Once would be nice."

"There's..." Tony began before his voice felt as if it was strangling him, eyes flickering to the ceiling and giving an annoyed huff. He was wishing so desperately now that he had told F.R.I.D.A.Y to keep all visitors away from the workshop. "God, I can't believe I have to spell it out. There's nothing between me and her. It's just joking around."

"You did a lot of joking around when you were younger, too."

"I'm not younger."

"You're right, you're not," Rhodey agreed, voice snapping as his arms crossed over his chest, claiming a stance that Tony had often seen on his father, one that left him burning with shame and eyes tingling with tears and he looked away, not believing the very fact his friend could even consider – ! It made Tony's stomach tie itself in knots, making him feel as if he nothing more than some disgusting lecher. "But she is. She's young and you're twice her age."

"And that's why there's nothing happening!" Tony hissed, nearly throwing his hands up but refraining from doing so, trying to keep everything under wraps so as to not have Allie overhear. That was the _last_ thing he wanted right now, right next to this conversation. "She's twenty five, Rhodes. She's my _assistant._ "

Rhodey's eyes narrowed at how Tony used his last name rather than the nickname that stuck with him all these years, picking up on how serious his friend was in this discussion before he spoke once more, chilling Tony's blood. "So was Pepper."

Tony's heart slams to a stop, closing his eyes and heaving a breath. Pepper... Pepper was Pepper and the anger he felt at having her brought into this was inconceivable, the pain that followed an onslaught that ripped in apart from the inside out. It wasn't the same, it _isn't_ the same. Allison wasn't Pepper, and Pepper wasn't Allison and the fact that Rhodey had even thought to lump them into the same category as last time? Shoving down the lump in his throat, Tony opened his eyes once more and his voice cracked as he spoke, either from feeling overtly emotional or because he was straining to keep back the sheer anger he felt. "Don't... Don't bring her into this. It isn't the same."

"How so?" Rhodey pushed and Tony felt himself break beneath the pressure.

"It – it just isn't!" Tony explained in a raspy whisper, not wanting Allie to overhear, feeling that he might become consumed with the shame if she had due to the fact _she_ was the topic of conversation and not in the way she would have liked at all. Rhodey stared at Tony and the latter stumbled, trying to find something to direct the conversation away because he didn't want those thoughts in his head, the ones that Rhodey oh so loved to shove in there. "God, what more do you want me to say? You think that – that I would do that to Pepper?"

Rhodey shook his head, appearing as if he regretted saying the words. "No, Tony, I – "

"I... I love her, alright?" Tony chokes out, becoming too undone and feeling to vulnerable, voice cracking as he swallowed, trying to force down the emotions that threatened to drag him under. He couldn't even remember the last time he heard Pepper's voice, couldn't remember the last time she had said his name or said 'I love you.' It had been months ago, before Ultron, when he had heard the latter and he may have been a mechanic, but he couldn't fix everything. His entire life was made up of broken things and he couldn't even stick himself back together after every break down. Part of him wanted to believe that it had been that one incident that had led to them... taking a break, but Tony knew that path had been paved long before that moment. He couldn't give her what she deserved, couldn't be the man he knew she wanted because he couldn't even _sleep._ And he's bitter for it, angry at himself and Tony takes to digging his nails into the back of his hands, trying to ground himself before he could be at risk of becoming washed away in the anger he felt – towards him, his actions, all that he was and all he would never be. "But we're going through a rough patch and she hasn't talked to me properly in _months_. God forbid that I actually want to not think about her all the time and try to talk with people outside of our small band of _heroes_."

"I'm just saying..." Rhodey began slowly, stunned by Tony's small outburst but quickly tucking his surprise away. "Maybe the way you're acting... isn't the right way to go about it? People might get... the _wrong_ idea."

"I know," Tony exhaled, reaching up to rub at his eyes with his hands, stars and galaxies bursting in the darkness as the whispers in the back of his mind grew louderly, less like wind and more like a raging storm. " _I know_ , Rhodey."

"I understand... not wanting to think about Pepper and trying to distract yourself," Rhodey sighed, strained and moving closer to stand beside tony, trying to offer whatever comfort he could, even if Tony couldn't find it within himself to explain himself fully to his friend; more than once he had nearly lost Rhodey because of his stupidity, of his inability to keep his trap shut, but now he would never risk it ever again. "But I don't want to see you lose her."

"She's not mine to lose, Rhodey, not anymore," Tony replied solemnly, the anger and fire from before drifting away, barely embers that were being choked by ash. "Maybe I should just learn to live with that."

"You don't love her anymore?" Rhodey asked, shocked and in disbelief at Tony's words, though not as much as Tony was when they fell past his mouth. No, no, he _did_ love Pepper, more than he had ever loved anyone and she put up with his shit when she didn't have to and she always helped him to feel like a man who was put together even when he was falling apart.

But he always seemed to drag her down, always seemed to make her worry and feel anxious and want to tear her hair out. She always hated the fact he would never join her for bed, had become less willing to shower her with the love he had an abundance to give early on in their relationship. He blamed it on being older and not having the energy. The voices in the back of his mind whispered that he was too afraid to do anything, that he was too afraid to take the love of his life to bed anymore.

"I do but..." Tony drifted off, looking to his wrung hands and seeing the half moons waxing and waning on the back of his hand from where his nails had managed to bite and gnaw their fangs into. There was a weight on his heart, matching the one on his shoulders and his tongue felt coated in lead, brows furrowed together as he tried to ignore the bitter and sour taste that flooded his mouth. Tony swallowed roughly, feeling so small, so weak as he had always been, had always tried to hide. _Stark men are made of steel,_ his father used to roar into his ear whenever Tony would cry too much; he can still hear the echo now, remaining even so despite the years that he thought had healed the bruises and injuries given to him. He was a kid, and kids were always covered in bruises. But he never had been one to play outside and no one liked to ever ask what the great Howard Stark might be capable of. Taking another deep breath to wash away the heaviness of his heart, Tony shook his head and finished the thought that had been on his mind for some time now. "Maybe it's best if I don't."

"So you're saying you're ready to move on?" Rhodey asked gentle, no longer able to keep the fire of the argument going, and shocked at how quick Tony's temper cooled. It seemed all Tony ever managed to do with Rhodey nowadays was fight; if it wasn't because of Allie, it was because of his refusal to join the team, if not that then it was because of how kept himself locked away.

And Tony hated it, hated fighting with Rhodey because it was _Rhodey,_ the one person in the entire world he would take a bullet for without a moment's hesitation. In the last few months of their relationship, it seemed all Pepper and Tony did was fight – about his sudden introverted behaviour, his inability to sleep, the anxiety attacks that would leave him locked in the bathroom for hours on end. And how he hated that she was always away, that she spent more time with potential clients that she did him and that she answered her phone during dinner because she was a CEO but it was _his_ company and wasn't _he_ her boyfriend?

Not that Tony would ever tell Rhodey about this, not that he would ever tell anyone because he loved Pepper and every relationship had their ups and downs – even if their downs were more often than their ups and they hadn't had sex for months before they broke up. He could imagine how much of a laughing stock he would become if he told anyone that he couldn't even find the energy to have sex with the woman he loved and he could imagine the whispers, of how _old_ he was now. Maybe it was that, or maybe it was the fact he could never ignore the harsh hisses in the back of his mind for long enough.

Rhodey waited for Tony to reply but the truth was, Tony didn't know. He was long past thinking Pepper would ring him up and ask to call and it had been too long for him to find the courage to do that. Move on from Pepper? It seemed impossible because for so long, she was all he wanted in his life; how could someone move on from that? And even if he did, he couldn't imagine just... _using_ someone to get the task done; it made his stomach recoil because he had been in love for so long, had spent the better part of nearly ten years in love with Pepper and it had taken him so long to realise his feelings for her. How would he be even better compared to the man he used to be if he just moved on? No, no, he thinks that there could hardly be anything in this world to make that happen.

"Sorry, Colonel Rhodes," it was Allie who spoke, moving into the room with a single white sheet of paper clutched in her hands and ignorant of all that transpired moments before but still able to pick up on the tension in the air, with the two men focusing in on her while her eyes moved from Rhodey and back to Tony and looking as if she wanted nothing more than to leave again, feeling far too awkward and as if she was intruding; instead of waving her away, Tony motioned her to continue and he took a breath, listening to her speak as he washed himself of all that brought him down before. "Is it alright if I have a word with Mr. Stark?"

"Sure, no problem," Rhodey replied instantly and Tony snapped his gaze to him. "I was... just getting ready to leave."

"Rhodey, you don't have to go."

"No, but I'm needed elsewhere," Rhodey sighed, tired and drained before giving him a small smile. "Do me a favour and take care of yourself, alright?"

"Always," Tony said, hoping to reassure his friend even if he didn't believe it himself.

Rhodey seemed unsure of whether he should believe Tony or not, but still elected to clap his friend on the shoulder, a small 'goodbye' towards Allie that was echoed back quietly; Rhodey gave Tony one last look, _that_ look and gave a tight smile to the two of them before turning to go. Tony was still not convinced that his friend had come down here solely for a visit but part of him wished it were true, watching Rhodey as he entered the elevator once more, worry and concern lining his face but not saying anything before the doors snapped shut. Rhodey always worried too much about Tony, always making the latter feel too burdensome, too troublesome to be associated with.

Maybe Rhodey was right, he usually was as much as Tony didn't want to admit it. Rhodey was a soldier, he wasn't easily taken away by fantasises and his imagination and Tony _knew_ that he was acting... not as one should. It was just out of habit, of being friendly to his employees but he was older now and it could be seen in the wrong way – the way that his friend had insisted. But it wasn't like that, it wasn't the same.

"Is... everything alright?" Allie asked him, voice low and Tony might have tricked himself into thinking that she appeared _worried_ for him, brows furrowed together and a shallow crease forming, only digging itself deeper as they met gazes; Tony's tongue felt too big for his mouth, too dry and sticking to the roof of it and preventing him from replying as he tried to swallow to soothe the ache in his throat.

She was still barefoot, too, uncaring if the ground was cold or not and she didn't appear bothered by it, only grateful that she no longer had to walk in those death traps she called high heels. Her hair was rumpled, pulled over one shoulder and the curls and waves were more natural now, each side hooked behind either ear and leaving her face free to see. He could even smell her perfume and it stung his nose, his throat, everything on the inside of him and Tony couldn't bear to hold her gaze anymore, turning to look away and walking over to where he had placed the drinks on one of the tables, trying to find anything to escape. Behind him, he could hear her footsteps padding along. "Of course, always is."

He didn't bother to look back to see if she believed him – what did it matter if she did or she didn't? He felt those tangled knots in the back of his mind, silky threads to capture his thoughts in its sticky web, leaving him prey to the demons that might come later to devour him. He grapped his cup, not caring to grasp the handle and ignoring how it burned his fingertips, seeping in and searing the flesh but it was a pain that grounded him, something he knew would pass eventually and something that he could withstand. Tony felt his heart in his throat, whispering the words Rhodey had said before and he turned only to be accosted by Allie, who was frowning and didn't look to believe him at all. The smell of her perfume burned once more and his grip on the mug tightened.

"You look a little pale," she commented, looking at him and disapproving his rumpled state. He didn't blame her, he was pretty sure he always looked like shit nowadays and no amount of sleep could cure it. Tony didn't reply, didn't know how to reply and gave a hum in response, watching as Allie's eyes rushed over him; he wanted to ask if she liked what she saw but felt unable to when she brought her eyes back to his, that same old worry lingering in the blue of her eyes, storming and crackling. "You're not feeling sick, are you?"

He took a sip of his drink, not even tasting it properly as he shook his head, muttering around the lip of the cup and ignoring how it burned his throat. "No, I'm fine. Just feeling a little off."

"Are you running a fever?" she asked and Tony was too late to react before Allie's hand reached up and she pressed it against his forehead, slipping it beneath his fallen fringe and her hand was a different burn now, a cold one and she had rolled slightly onto the balls of her feet, closer to Tony and he was drowning in the smell of her perfume. "Let me check – "

She held her hand in place for a few seconds that felt like an eternity, only because Tony remained too shocked and unsure of what to do, rooted to the ground by the coldness of her hand pressed against his burning forehead, face becoming worm as a strangled breath forced its way down his throat, wide eyed and glued to the sight of a small splash of freckles on her nose, barely even there and unnoticable unless one stood as close to her as he did now. He reared his mind into place and Tony jerked away from Allie's hand, stumbling a step back and ignoring how the tea splashed over the side of the cup to lick his hand, cooling almost instantly but stinging nonetheless. Allie blinked, hand still its position as it had been when pressed against his forehead before she snapped it down, going to hold the other side of the page she held in one hand, as wide eyed as Tony and maybe even redder, red blooming gently on her cheeks.

"No, no, no! It's fine," Tony croaked out, mind yelling at him to get himself together, hand clutching his cup as if it were a lifeline, all that he had to stop himself from being whisked away. He thought of Pepper then, of the smell of her perfume, or the way she red lipstick stained, how she always had a smile on her lips when they kissed. It made his stomach knot and words clumped at the back of his throat before he pushed it down, trying to ignore the cord around his heart tightening and tightening. He had said he wanted to move on from Pepper, but how could he do that when she was all he had ever wanted for so many years? Allie still stood barely a few inches in front of him, unspeaking and Tony found his voice once more, glad it was not as unsteady as his heart. "Besides, if I am sick, I wouldn't want you to get sick and then pass it on to me again and then leave us in a never ending cycle of being sick."

"You better not," Allie laughed awkwardly, a breathlessness in her voice as she spoke, wispy and feathered at the edges and she gripped tightly to the page in her hand, nearly threatening to crumple it beneath her grip. "I don't need to become a mouth breather for the next few months."

They laughed in unison at her pale attempt at a joke, trying to lesson the tension as Tony placed his drink down beside him again, slyly wiping his hands on his pants and not caring if it stained. There was silence and Tony wrung his hands behind him before shoving them into his pockets, bunching them into fists and nearly tearing through the delicate material that lined the inside.

"You..." he coughed, looking to the ground for a moment before he forced himself to look to her. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Oh!" Allie exclaimed, recollecting herself and sucking in a breath as a shaky smile lit up on her face once more. "Yes, I can't believe I forgot!"

 _It's not the same, it's not the same,_ echoed in Tony's mind while his heart whispered against the raging storm.

 _Why would I lie?_

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!**_

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 _ **Lucy Strike's alter ego: first off: i absolutely LOVE reading your thoughts and your insight on the chapter and i never EVER tire of reading your reviews EVER! long reviews warm my heart and they make me want to gush because i just love reading people's thoughts on my story; and i hope youre ready for a very long slowburn so buckle in, this is going to tak time and a LOT of suffering - well, more suffering for tony than usual. and oh they were definitely flirting alright - but more so of "wait are we flirting because i dont want to flirt if it's not alright with u and i dont wanna make u uncomfortable" like these kids are so awkward and UNSURE. and it means so so so so much to me that YOU are reading MY story and giving me such amazing feedback ! (im so bad at reading fics nowadays and i always feel awkward if i leave a long review on ppls fics in case im totally wrong on what they wanted to imply or what they wanted interpreted). honestly whenever i feel like not writing the next chapter i remember all the support ive received and it always gives me the energy to continue on and it means so so much to me to know that you love this story and that you leave such kind hearted comments after each chapter. it makes me fit to CRY honestly ! and i hope that you continue to write your tony fic bc ! im dying to keep reading it and you're such an amazing writer and i hope that you are never discouraged in writing!**_

 _ **Krakengirl: ahhh thank you so so much for reading this fic and leaving behind a comment! ive always been hesitant about my tony since the beginning but in the latest chapters ive grown so much more confident in writing him after seeing so much positive feedback! and if im being honest, a lot of allie's viewpoints on dating and relationships are based on my own jdaskjfaklj i know i keep saying this isn't a SI but... by god does allie share a lot of traits with me. thank you so much for reading and supporting the fic and i hope you continue to do so!**_

 _ **trickstersink: afhdljafkfjakfa you don't know how much your comment made my day! im so glad that you've greatly enjoyed the way i've presented tony stark as i feel him to be as a character and that you've continued to enjoy and support this story even if you're not a fan of mcu!tony! (granted i dislike how joss whedon absolutely retconned his mental illness and did so many ooc things with him in AOU thank god hes no longer near tony stark or any of the other avengers). anyways thank you so so so much for choosing to read this story and to support it ! it really means a lot to me!**_

 _ **youngadelaide98: thank you so much! i guess i just wanted to write the story i wanted to read and im so glad to see people enjoying it! im very picky when it comes to fics that have tony in them because they can be... very off with his character, especially ones that are multicharacter ones (which i understand sometimes as it can be hard to tend to a lot of characters in one story but sometimes i get very annoyed when they portray him as being an ignorant rich guy who has no other personality trait than 'haha im witty'.) Anyways, thank you so much for reading this story and i honestly can't believe that they killed our dad in the latest chapter update of d &d and not one hint of mr sinclaire! better make up for it next week.**_

 ** _Safire96: thank you so much! i will admit there have been times i nearly died from how cute these two can be. i hope you continue to enjoy this fic as you have in the past!_**

 _ **Guest: and thank YOU for reading this fic and leaving a review as I always love reading the thoughts of my readers! thank you so much for reading and supporting this fic once more!**_

 _ **PrincessMagic: thank you! i didn't want to get into the deep stuff yet (there's some in here but it is NOTHING in comparison to angst i have planned ahead). all will soon be revealed! (disclaimer: soon means around chapter 45 or something). Thanks once more for leaving a review and for always supporting my fic!**_

 _ **eden: thank you so much! i felt bad about delaying the chapter update last week but now im on time! with a longer chapter AND tony pov! hopefully that makes up for the delayed wait hfsjksjfa thank you so much for reviewing my story and for supporting it as always! it warms my heart and gives me energy to write to see such dedicated readers!**_

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 _ **oh? what's this? an update that is on update day? WOW.**_

 _ **anyways, this story is getting back on track as i promised last chapter here is some of the JUICY stuff that lay before us. only more drama and big sad stuff lie ahead for us now. so buckle in people, it's going to be a bumpy and emotionally wrecking ride!**_

 _ **also, any other b99 lovers? i stole an episode storyline for this chapter adlksajdkls**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_**I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.**_

 _ **Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!**_

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 _ **Chapter Fourteen.**_

By the time December had rolled around, it appeared that they were to prepare for a cold Winter, set with white snow and frigid temperatures. Allie did loathe to leave her bed in the morning and often thought of calling in to say she would much rather stay at home that day, as she had won the bet and was allowed to take off any day that she wanted; but she never really did have the courage to do so, chickening out at last minute because she knew how much hazing she would receive from him if she did.

The walk in the mornings woke her up, despite how much she despised it for doing so. She would have much rather have preferred to be wrapped in her thick duvet, clutching a soft pillow than having to push her legs by walking to work, not wanting to get caught in the morning traffic that clogged up the streets; though, part of Allie envied the drivers in their warm cars with their air conditioning and not having to put up with the smell of fumes that plagued the city. Her one respite in the morning was dodging into her old work place, smiling almost sheepishly and having a chat with Francis about her work, about his work, about their lives and how they were no longer interconncected at they used to be.

Francis never did ask her who she worked for, or what her job was and Allie was not deigned to tell him, almost feeling as if it wasn't her place to tell, nor did he ever ask who the black coffee was for, despite how his eyes narrowed upon the order given as he knew how much Allie loathed the drink and any variation of it. At least the drink kept her hands from freezing up, tips pink from the frost nipping at the skin but doing little against the hot beverages clutched in her hands and they were a comforting burn, easing the frigid bite of winter as it sunk into her bones; the sharp morning air stung her throat and her nose, digging into the sensitive flesh but managing to keep Allie awake, lest she might end up falling into a gutter half asleep.

She didn't need that almost happening again.

Her clothes had changed from the pencil skirts and blouses she had first worn in her beginning weeks working for her new boss to something more comfortable, something more _her_ ; her jeans were warm and fashionable as well as classy enough for her workplace and the jumpers were her trusted companions as some days she might not know whether she would enter the Compound and her small little work place to discover it wasn't as warm as she would like.

Even as Allie was adding more layers of clothing, it seemed that the cold was only bothering her. She just didn't understand people who could walk around with so few articles of clothing while she remained with her scarf wrapped up to her nose, covering more than half of her face. Part of her dreaded the cold, put Allie hated the warmth that she was so unused to in the Summers even more, so she couldn't complain.

Allie seemed to have little to complain about these days.

It wasn't that she was looking for an excuse to complain, be it the weather or her work load or how early in the morning she had to get up, but that she didn't really have anything going particularly wrong in her life for her to be upset with; even before, with a minimum wage, nine to five job and more nights in than out, Allie knew she had it better than some but didn't feel exactly grateful for the life she had.

It felt that no matter what, she was always on the end of a rope, being pulled away from any chance of being truly independent, of being truly free; yet now, Allie felt more _her_ than she had in months, even years. She had a well paying job, she could even buy nice things for herself without worrying about the money (not the lack thereof, but more of the actual thing itself as she disliked the idea of having money that wasn't her own) and she was sleeping better, too; maybe it was pure exhaustion from working all day, or maybe it was not feeling as bogged down by life as she used to, call it what you will, but Allie couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well.

And Allie even liked her job, too, however much she hissed at it in the beginning; she hadn't disliked working for Frances for so many years but she didn't exactly have the time of her life working there either, being so restricted in what she did and what she could do to the point it felt as if every time she walked past those glass doors that she was suffocating on the smell of coffee grinds, bleach floors and disinfected table tops. Customer service really wasn't for people who loathed to provide day long services to ungrateful people who think yelling at a barista will speed up the rate of which they'll get their drink.

Now, maybe there was a small part of her that looked forward to getting out of bed and heading to work – a small part, a very tiny, teeny and almost nonexistant part that was barely even there and was easily squashed when Allie remembered the time she would have to spend walking to work.

They always said that if you pick a job you like, you'll never work a day in your life.

It wasn't as if Allie absolutely loved it or enjoyed doing her work, but she didn't hate it half as much as she had once; there weren't any pesky customers to look after, no disgusting restrooms to clean up after a long day of working and always thinking about money and tips and her cheeks burning from the smile that was plastered on her face for hours on end. Her back and feet didn't hurt as much any more and she never ended up with the stench of coffee lingering in her hair or having her hands feeling sticky throughout the day.

Allie supposed her enjoyment was mainly down to, but solely limited to, her new boss; she'd never tell him but Tony did make it that _bit_ more bearable.

Tony.

It was Tony, now.

Never to his face, of course not – she had _some_ sense of decorum and it would have felt like calling her old school principal by his first name; to him, it was always _Mr. Stark –_ more often than not, it was down out of frustration if he was being particularly hard to deal with or if she needed to needle co-operation out of him. He had said once that it made him sound _old_ , and that _Mr. Stark_ was his father and Allie ignored the poison that wore at the edges of his voice and shrugged his words away; he was, in the end, her boss as well as the person who signed her cheques so she would at least try to remain some air of respect towards him. The last thing Allie wanted was to end up losing the best job she had ever had.

Still, in her head, she called Tony by his name, sometimes almost shyly because it felt strange to do so even despite his insistence that she most definitely _should_ call him that; Allie thought, given the chance, she could have gone on and on about how Tony was such a different person to the one she thought she knew from reading trashy articles online, or how he really was a good person once you got pass all the flashy exterior and light shows, and through the suit of armour that he kept. Allie wouldn't call herself a fan per say (the thought of wearing Iron Man shirts and pyjamas made her cringe inwardly), but the admiration was there.

Definitely admiration.

Allie could definitely say she admired the hell out of Tony Stark and not feel ashamed.

She _could_ , but she wouldn't – Tony would never let her live it down. (S _aying his name, even if only in her mind, made Allie somewhat giddy.)_

It was early in the morning when Allie awoke on one of her much anticipated days off, her body too in tune to waking before double digits hit the clock but she didn't mind all that much; going to be earlier had made it that bit more bearable and she got more than her share of 8 hours of sleep. It was warm beneath the blankets, cosy in fact and it made Allie never want to leave her room or her bed, what with her body being twisted in the most comfortable position it could find and being safely snug beneath the blankets.

And Allie might have spent her day off like that – laying in bed, scrolling through her social media and Netflix in a bid to try and find something or anything to watch, lounging in her pyjamas and taking her time to do things rather than rushing through them to keep up with the rigid schedule she had placed for herself. Yes, she _might have,_ had it not been for the sudden twinge in her bladder that pulled all those thoughts from her mind.

Allie gave a grumble and tried to turn to her other side, pulling the blankets and the pillow she was clutching with her; the twinge relented and Allie snuggled down into her bed, nothing bothering to go back to sleep due to feeling well rested even if it seemed like the sun had not risen yet to drip into her window.

Asking for the day off had not been hard, since it was one of their conditions from Allie winning a bet – though, Allie was somewhat surprised that _Tony_ (by this point, Allie was sure she was just trying to say his name as much as she possibly could) actually kept his word since he complained ever so much about her leaving him for the day and that he had nothing for doing and _who else was going to keep him company?_ In a half executed attempt to comfort him, Allie gave him a small pat on the shoulder and told him that, in the words of a once wise man, he should 'suck it up.'

She had also suggested he could do some of her work for her and if he ever wanted to look at some things, but the words had instantly rushed over Tony's head and he quickly shooed her away and told her to come in _extra_ early the day after. Allie felt herself curl up even more on her side, the pillow she was holding bent between her legs and her stomach her nose buried itself into the soft material of her bedding; he had kicked up quick a fuss about her day off but he didn't make her feel overly guilty, mostly just putting the whining on for show – it had amused Allie, not that she would let it show. She didn't need to have him know his puppy eyes tactic _almost_ worked on her.

It had been cute and heart strangling to see, however.

Another twinge of her bladder tore Allie from her thoughts and she gave a hiss, kicking the blankets off away from her, letting them catch around her legs before shaking them loose. Instantly, the cold attacked her body and Allie gave a strangled gasp, scrambling to take the blankets in hand once more. Her socks were in a mess beside her bed and she reached out, slipping them on so her poor feet wouldn't have to suffer like the rest of her; it was definitely the season for wearing a dressing gown and Allie found enough strength to pull herself from her warm cocoon to walk to her wardrobe, rifling through the clothes to take a hold of her rather old but very trusty, pink spotted, cream dressing gown, slipping it on and feeling some relief from the nipping cold.

Someone would have to answer for this.

She didn't know who, but definitely someone.

Shambling her way out, Allie repressed a shudder as she made her way to the kitchen, not surprised to see Lisa already sitting there, phone in hand and thumb scrolling through her newsfeed as her sharp green eyes lined with black eyeliner glanced up to land on Allie; a small amused smile graced Lisa's lips at Allie's appearance but didn't seem too bothered by the cold herself, despite being dressed for work in a pencil skirt and a blouse. The woman seemed able to weather the extremely hot and the extremely cold, whereas Allie melted in any form of heat and froze in anything below room temperature.

"Oh my God, why is it so cold?" Allie complained, teeth almost chattering from the biting chill as she slipped into the only other chair opposite Lisa, toes curling in as she kept her dressing gown tight around her neck, strands of her loose bun that had been tied up the night before escaping and tickling her cheeks and the back of her neck.

Lisa locked her phone, placing it screen down onto the table and clicked her tongue behind her mauve painted lips, slimping in her chair with her legs outstretched before her, feet bare with a pair of sheer stockings being all that covered her legs from the knee down. "The heating broke. It'll probably be fixed tomorrow morning."

Allie quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "Probably?"

Lisa gave a sad and sympathetic smile towards Allie, the sight of it not at all reassuring. "Meaning not likely and it'll be Friday before we'll be able to feel our toes."

An unsatisfied grunt left Allie, her eyes rolling on their own accord as she matched Lisa's slump, a rush of air leaving her lips in the form of a raspberry which ended up catching on a loose wisp of hair and pushing it away from her eyes. "That's just great."

Lisa gave a small hum and her hand found itself resting on the table top, occupying the space beside her phone as her fingers began to drum, her nails tapping against the wood as if she was fighting the urge to pick up the small device that rested beside her and scroll through it again. Allie shoved her hands into the pockets of her dressing gown and peered at Lisa for a moment, as if she didn't know what to say but knew something needed to be said.

As much as Allie didn't want to admit it, it felt _awkward_ around Lisa.

The time they were spending apart from each was slowly creeping in and affecting the both of them, even if neither noticed it at first; it was like placing a frog into a pot of water and slowly heating it up – it doesn't notice until it's too late.

Allie had been spending more time at the Compound and with Tony than she had been at home or with Lisa and she partly felt bad, yet knew that her job was a necessity and it wasn't going to be for that long so what harm was it going to do if she put the effort in now? Lisa had her own life too – her work, her new 'not really a boyfriend' boyfriend that she would frequently see in and out of work. Allie had even begun to notice their conversations were being reduced to 'Is there any toilet paper?' and 'Did you get any milk?'

Lisa silence prolonged the awkward feeling that was simmering around Allie – maybe, just maybe, _she_ was the one making it awkward, not Lisa, and it was because she thought everything was awkward when it was not and that was just making it awkward in and of itself?

Allie gave her head a brisk shake and took her hands from the pockets of her dressing gown and let them fall on the top of the table palm down, moving to stand with the lip of the chair hitting the back of her knees with the legs screeching somewhat against the floor. The movement brought Lisa's eyes back to Allie and the latter gave a grin, bringing her hands together yet again to rub them together, palm to palm in an attempt to create some sort of friction to ease the cold teeth gnawing at her skin. "Can I interest you in a cup of fresh hot chocolate?"

It was such a sudden question that Lisa blinked before her face settled again, a quirk lifting at the side of her mouth. "Are you going to make it with milk or water?"

"Why is that even a question?" Allie scoffed, moving away from the table and towards the inner workings of the kitchen, back now to Lisa as she opened the nearest cupbard to pull free two mugs from it, placing them down in front of her. Allie stopped and gave a look over her shoulder to Lisa, a soft smile. "Milk, obviously"

"Then, yes please, I need some feeling in my fingers.," Lisa requested, interlinking her fingers together and stretching them out in front of her, a few popping as she did so, making Allie's face scrunch up as she bit her tongue, holding it between her teeth so as to not remark on her disgust at Lisa's actions.

Neither spoke as Allie made the hot chocolate, taking the lazy yet quick route of pouring the milk out and shoving it into the microwave, grabbing two spoons as well as the container that held the hot chocolate powder; behind her, Allie could hear Lisa's fingernails tapping once more on the wooden top of the table, a steady rhythm with no beat to it as she waited for her drink. Allie wished for a radio, for anything to fill the silence as her eyes watched the microwave, the two cups spinning and twirling within with the timer counting ever downwards to zero. Her own phone was back in her bedroom and she hadn't checked if it was fully charged or not, hadn't bothered to see when she had tumbled out of bed that morning.

Chewing her bottom lip, Allie reached forward and opened the microwave before it hit zero, a habit she had never managed to shake loose from her youth, and she was careful not to burn herself when taking the two cups in hand, the handles warm but not searing her flesh; she quickly spooned the powder in, mixing and stirring it to each of the girls' likings before taking them in both hands once more and placing them down beside the owner of each respective drink. Lisa muttered a soft _thank you_ and quickly clutched the hot beverage, leaning in close to breathe it in and to cool it down briefly before bringing it to her lips, slurping on it.

Allie took a deep breathe of the aroma that filled the air and sipped on her own drink, grateful for the warmth as Lisa placed hers back down, a faint and faraway smile on her lips.

"Hot chocolate and not tea, huh?" she asked Allie, eyes glued to the murky brown liquid, finger running along the rim of the cup, steam rising up quickly from it.

Allie gave a sharp and amused exhale, the drink tasting sweet on her tongue. "I'm allowed to switch it up a bit."

A hum left Lisa as she continued to eye her drink. "You didn't happen to bake any sweet things along with that hot chocolate, did you?"

Allie gave out a small, short laugh in response, taking another sip from her sweet drink; the question wasn't entirely out of the blue since Lisa seemed to love Allie's baking, being one of many who did. It hadn't been a hard hobby to pick up – she spent most of her life making her own meals and cooking her own food, so baking was no different. But chocolate cakes and oatmeal cookeis weren't as much of a necessity to survive as the rest of her diet, not to mention the amount of money Allie would have to spend on ingredients was higher than she would have liked. So her hobby only lasted for a hot second (roughly around a few months around the age of 20) and then her interest and passion for it stooped; baking was a mere fleeting interest now and she rarely ever did it, save for certain occasions and if she needed to get back on Lisa's good side again. Allie's mouth pulled into a smile as she shook her head, reaching up to push a wisp caught in her eyelashes away with a hand that was still burning from the cup she had been holging. "You know I only bake for very special and certain occassions."

"The last time you made something was for my 21st birthday," Lisa all but pouted at Allie, her words being rather true.

Allie had many distractions growing up and baking hadn't been the first; she had taken up sewing, drawing, even dabbled in writing before discovering she had no pension for it, could play a bit of guitar and even the ukelele, and her computer skills were the first in a long líne of her 'hobbies'. It wouldn't hurt to make something small, even if the thought of going out to buy ingredients when she barely had time was a pain in the ass. But it was her day off, so maybe she could try and make a list at least, or shuffle her way from her bed to a store. "Well, I'll think about it."

Lisa tossed Allie a small smile, one that Allie might have assumed to be gratefulness, as the silence lulled once more between the two, not as stiff and bone breaking as it had been before. Allie had no idea what to say, or what to ask her friend; asking how work was seemed to mundane and cliché, and part of her wanted to probe about the secret boyfriend Lisa was hiding but Allie knew Lisa was keeping her lips sealed until she was ready to talk about him. The fact that Allie didn't really now much about Lisa's daily life lately made guilt swell up like a balloon in her, up to the bursting point as it constricted her lungs. She chewed her bottom lip, tasting and testing the words she might have said on her tongue; the last thing Allie wanted to do was go into a conversation about herself and talking about her own life if Lisa didn't decide to do the same. Life out of customer service meant that there weren't new people to meet everyday or new stories to talk about – now, it was only her and Tony.

Just... Allie and Tony.

To hide the curve on her lips, Allie brought her cup to her lips again, the rim slotting in perfectly as Lisa shifted in her seat, moving to cross her legs beneath the table as a small cough left her, grabbing Allie's attention. "So... I told you me and that guy from work are dating, right?"

That did catch Allie by surprise as she placed her cup down on the table top again, a small _clink_ echoing throughout the room that was only filled with the muffled sirens and cars and voices that leaked in through cracks in their apartment. Some sort of relief flooded through Allie, as if glad that Lisa still trusted her to a degree to open up to her about her love life. Allie would have done the same in return had she a love life of her own to talk about. "You mean your boyfriend? Is there any chance I'm going to learn his name?"

It was a tease that pulled at Lisa's smile and her mouth shifted into something familiar, eyes far away but soft at a memory, at a person as her voice dropped low and sweet that might have been melted from the hot chocolate she had been drinking seconds prior. It was a look of _love –_ early love, the honeymoon phase that Allie had often see with Lisa and it delighted Allie to see her friend so happy and content, glad that at least Lisa had found someone."It's Stewart."

"Stewart?" Allie repeated, quirking her eyebrow at the name. Lisa had never dated a Stewart before; a few _Dylan_ 's and maybe two _Chris'_ , but never a Stewart. If he was working where Lisa was, that meant he was already leagues better than the guys that had come before him and he already had Allie's respect – even if she might have to threaten him should he break Lisa's heart; though, Allie doubted that since Lisa was more the heartbreaker, rather than the heartbreakee.

"What?" Lisa asked, catching onto the question with a sharp and protective eye that made Allie want to grin even more.

Allie shook her head, attempting to feign innocence as her poor attempt at concealing her grin failed. "Nothing, it's a nice name."

Lisa hummed as if in agreement and the sharpness dropped, replaced by an seemingly coyish look, her cheeks appearing pinker beneath the makeup she was already wearing.

"We haven't really told anyone at work yet," she explained in a hushed tone, as if her boss was actually in the room or if they were at risk at being over head. Allie could understand Lisa's decision, not wanting to tell for fear of being jinxed – or worse, at one of them (if not both) being _fired._ A sigh bled past Lisa's lips, face slumping in disappointment but picking up once more again to try and not appear too pessimistic, or to let the thought of both being in trouble to overwhelm her. "You know, what with it being our workplace, and not wanting to make it weird but... I like him. I really like him and he treats me really great."

Allie's heart might have burst from how adorable Lisa was at that moment, seeming shy at admitting her feelings for the man and Allie resisted the urge to coo over her friend, the happiness she felt for Lisa overwhelming. It had been more than a year since Lisa had been dating anyone and even that relationship barely managed to limp past the month mark; he hadn't exactly been a good guy and Allie had wanted to smack him over the head and nearly did so had Lisa not gotten there before her. The relationship came to end when Lisa discovered she hadn't been the only one he had been seeing and she wasn't terribly sorry to see him go, but Allie knew it hurt her to a degree that she was put off dating men for a while.

Seeing her friend's happiness eased whatever worry of abandonment Allie had been feeling, glad that Lisa's life could continue on without Allie; it wasn't exactly a healthy thought to have, and Allie knew she could never voice it to her friend, but it was as if a long standing fear had been laid to rest, that Lisa could go on with her life without having to be tied down by Allie. Allie was many things, but a burden she did not want to be, not ever and especially not to Lisa.

Yet, despite that happiness she felt, a hidden and underlying green monster was lurking in the depths of Allie's minds, voice hissing and echoing in her skull, catching on the pockets and sending them to her ears; she didn't like to think of herself as being a jealous person, or someone who envied others since she knew she was more than happy with what she already had in life but...

 _But..._

No, no – she wouldn't go down that path, that dark thought paved path that she had been tempted to stroll down many times before. She was happy for Lisa, for _Stewart,_ and she wasn't going to let anything destroy that. Allie was happy with what she had in life, she would not become greedy and seek to have more than she allowed. Bitterness did not taste like the sweet, hot chocolate Allie was drinking and she attempted to wash it down, get rid of it before it stained her words; the drink burned her throat but it was a different one, a nicer burn to what it had been before. Green wasn't Allie's colour, anyway.

"That's great, Leese. I really am happy for you, and you deserve some happiness," Allie said, the words nearly choked from how her hot drink had been washed down so quickly and carelessly without thought before clearing her throat and giving a quick grin. Outside, a car was blaring its horns again and again and there were footsteps thumping around upstairs. "I can't wait to meet him."

Lisa didn't respond to Allie, her cheek dipped in as if she had begun chewing on the flesh in an unusual habit of hers, spinning her ceramic mug carefully between the pads of her fingers, the steam not as strong as it had been before. Beneath the table, Allie's leg began to jump, bouncing up and down in an attemp to ease off the all too early sugar rush that was coursing through her that was mingling with the nervousness that was buzzing in her veins. Silence continued and the conversation lulled, an end that hung off awkwardly and left room for an unknown tension to rise as Lisa's lovelorn face dripped away, morphing into one of a small frown and perfectly shaped eyebrows knitted together. From here, Allie could smell Lisa's perfume and it was completely different to the one she always wore, the Madonna one that Allie for her every Christmas because it was her favourite.

Or had been.

Maybe it really wasn't, and Lisa just accepted it out of politeness.

Allie smacked that thought from her head, trying to brush over the footprints it left in its dust as her leg continued its jittery bounce, mind wondering to what time it was, or if any time had passed at all. Time normally seemed to fly fast for Allie, what with work and everything, like sand slipping through her fingers, but now there was an abundance of it, overflowing and spilling from her hands.

Finally, Lisa sat up straight but kept her eyes down all the same, hand tightening on her cup, fingers turning pale yellow. "Are you sure you'll have the time?"

Her voice was a different gentleness now, not of the same one as before and that guilt rose up again but Allie squashed it down, giving a small and hopefully reassuring smile to her friend. "Of course I'll have the time, I always do for you."

It was true, Allie did have time and lots of it and she would always have time for Lisa; part of Allie understood Lisa's hesitance but Allie had never been for one for skivving out on a friend, especially when it was her only friend. Lisa had been in this line of work among many and surely she understood the workload that came with it and the dedication needed. Sure, he boss hadn't been Tony Stark and she hadn't ended up walking into a job not knowing what to do or how she got there, but Allie wouldn't doubt her friend, knowing Lisa had always done the same for her.

But there was another pause, another hesitance and that sudden reassurance Allie had instilled in herself was becoming weaker, foundations cracking beneath the added weight and pressure of droplets of doubt that were soaking into the base. Beneath the table, her leg picked up its speed and Allie half thought it might burrow through the ground and her leg would get stuck in the down stairs neighbours' ceiling.

Lisa ran her tongue over her bottom lip, leaving it glistening but managing to not disturb the lipstick that lay atop of it. That awkward atmosphere Allie thought she only conjured in her mind didn't feel as fake as it once did. "Are you sure about that?"

The words might have caught Allie off guard if she had not been supject to the niggling fingers of doubt that were already grabbing a hold of her. A frown was finding its way onto her mouth and Allie's leg stopped beneath the table, heel thumping on the ground with a sudden _bump_ and Allie watched as Lisa shifted, emerald eyes glued to the table top that was speckled with years of burn and food stains that were unable to be coaxed out with even the toughest of cleaning products.

A breath entered Allie, sharp and slicing through the previous bittereness that clung to the back of her throat and she swallowed roughly, sifting through the right words to say as she peered beyong the metaphorical horizon that was suddenly seeming dangerous as a fight approached. Her eyes were trained on Lisa, her words echoing in Allie's ears as she wondered if maybe she was digging too deep into what Lisa was trying to say, or not trying to say and would end up just digging her own grave. No, _no,_ her mind was overthinking, overloading and those cracking foundations of trust were ignored. What could they possibly fight about?

 _Only one way to find out._

"Leese?" Allie called out softly but her hands mimicked Lisa's, clutching her cup too tightly and her bones became stiff, the thought that maybe she would end up cracking her cup and send peces scattering around the place or make them pierce through flesh entered her mind. Lisa's eyes darted to the ground then, trying to ignore Allie's eyes as Allie watched her throat bob. "What's that supposed to mean?"

A pause.

A sigh.

Lisa stood from where she sat, chair hissing along the floor as she shook her head, strands of her black hair bouncing around her as she did so. Her sigh had been heavy, heaved through her entire body as if it had been sitting there for far too long, gathering dust and dirt. Her feet were silent as she went to the sink, tossing the remains of her drink into the sink; she had barely drank any of it and steam rose from the metal basin built into the counter, gurgling as it slipped down the drain as Allie watched Lisa with the latter's back turned to her once more, rinsing her cup out with carelessness before leaving it upturned to dry out.

"No, it's..." Lisa began, back still turned to Allie as she placed either hand on the lip of the counter in front of her, the pause filled with deep thought before she gave another sigh, a soft curse beneath her breath as she shook the water droplets free from her hands and gave another shake of her head, trying to win out against whatever debate she was having with herself in her head. "Listen, it's nothing, ignore me."

Allie most definitely could _not_ ignore Lisa, now of all tímes. Any other time, Allie would have given her that courtesy, let Lisa have her privacy until she was ready but this would not be one of those times because it was about _her,_ about _them_ and the elephant in the room would still be there even if they let it decay.

Allie stood up to meet Lisa, closing the distance between them by walking to her friend's side and placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping to grab Lisa's attentiom but not succeeding completely as her friend only tilted her head slightly to acknowledge Allie's presence but gave no further sign other than that. Worry rose in Allie's heart and she stomped it back down, not wanting it to slip into her voice and make it waver as she leaned in over the counter, trying to meet Lisa's eyes. "No, hey, tell me. Listen, talk to me, okay? We're friends. I don't want you to ever think you can't talk to me."

Lisa's eyes finally met Allie's and her teeth were gnawing onher bottom lip so ferociously that Allie thought she might break the skin and leave her mouth red and bloody. Lisa slipped out from underneath Allie's hand, turning away again and Allie could practically see the fight Lisa was having with herself, wondering if she should keep her mouth shut or trust in her friend. Allie desparetly hoped it was the latter, not wanting anything to come between; nothing ever had before, even when Allie had laid her cards bare to her friend, even when Allie had attempted to cut off their friendship early by nipping it in the bud.

Lisa refused to face Allie again, a hand reaching up to rush throuh her long, black tresses in an act of frustration that did not lesson Allie's worries. Her hands felt damp, the heat from her drinking leaving her quickly as she stoof rooted to where she stood before Lisa spun on Allie, lips pursed and arms snaking their way across her chest. Closed off, far away, Allie could see that fight on the horizon and could not brush it from her sight anymore.

"It just seems... that lately..." Lisa began, hesitating and stumbling to find the right words and string together the thoughts running through her head as Allie awaited, nervous and unsure of what it was that was eating away at Lisa so badly that it was making her so closed off from her friend. Allie's mind could only imagine the worst but she tried not to let them over rún her, waiting with bated breath as a frustated breath left Lisa, the green eyed girl finally summoning the courage to meet Allie's blue eyes. "All you ever do is spend time around your boss."

Oh.

 _Oh._

Wait,

 _What?_

Allie stared at her friend, taken aback at her words and her voice vanished, as if to mimick Allie's shock. Out of all things that Allie had conjured in her mind, out of everything in the world that she could possibly think of that could bother Lisa, that had... not been what she had expected. No, Lisa had to be using this as an excuse, to hide what really was eating away at her from the inside out. There no way that Lisa could possibly be bothered by that fact that Allie was _doing her job_ as a personal assistant – a job that Lisa had actively encouraged Allie to take when the latter was being as stubborn and stupid as a mule about it. A giggle was bubbling in the back of her throat, slipping onto her tongue because it all seemed so... _so..._

Stupid, was not a word Allie wanted to say, but if the shoe fits.

Yet, as Allie stared at her friend, the giggle threatening to leave her mouth, she saw how serious Lisa remained to be, a weight seemingly off her shoulders and the bout of laughter that had been brewing was suddenly corked and dropped to her stomach, a lump forming and Allie's face scrunched up, as if in pain from trying to understand why Lisa was bothered about Allie doing her job.

She couldn't possibly be annoyed that Allie was actually spending time with Tony, could she? Maybe if it was any other job, perhaps Allie would understand, but it was in her job to run around after him, chasing him down and dogging his footsteps and being at his side; what was so wrong with that? Better yet, Allie liked his company, and him too, so she was quite happy – or rather, not as annoyed as she should have been to follow him around like a shadow. The more Allie and Lisa stared at one another, one waiting for the other to break first and bite the bullet, Allie found that lump in her stomach becoming heavier and heavier and soon she thought her foot wouldn't be the only thing sticking through her neighbours' ceiling, but rather her entire body. Tension rose like waves and their heads were beneath the surface of it all, making it hard to breathe or think properly but Allie sorted through the static and gave a cough, shifting her weight and leaning against the counter, mimicking Lisa's stance of winding her arms around her chest, the two women now closed off from one another and defensive.

"Well," Allie began, glancing to her sock cladded feet, curling and uncurling her toes as her fingers began to drump along her arm, trying to rid herself of nervousness. Muted music managed to find its way through the walls, and Allie found the weather outside would have been easier to endure than the grey clouds storming overhead within the apartment. "It's my job, you know? I have to be around him."

Still, Lisa seemed unmoved by Allie's words, her index finger tapping impatiently on the crook of her arm and it confused Allie all that bit more. It was far too early in the morning for this, for this dance they were stumbling through and Allie was growing annoyed at her friend and her sudden dislike of Allie doing her job. It wrecked Allie's brain trying to understand it all but found that trying to see sense in her friend's words hurt her head even all that more than anything else.

Lisa began pacing, her barefeet victim to the cold floor of the kitchen as she began taking to biting the nail of her thumb, as if unsure if she wanted to continue down this path that she had started for herself, eyes briefly flickering to Allie once and then twice and then a third time all the while Allie's impatience grew; if she had known that her day off would have started like this, she might habe pocketed it for another time. Finally, Lisa took a leap of faith and stopped her walking back and forth to meet Allies awaiting stare.

"I get it, Al, I've worked as a personal assistant but..." Lisa trailed off, the _but_ that left her lips hanging from them as she hesitated on her words once more, testing the waters and the words on her tongue as her hands unwound from around her chest to clasp atop of her stomach. Her stance was less defensive now, more open and attempting to reach out to Allie. "The way you guys talk and hang around each other, it's just..."

The words were left flittering through the air and Allie stilled, eyes narrowing at her friend as she felt her arms tighten around her chest, fingers digging into the sleeve of her dressing gown but not managing to pierce through the material and into her arm which would have left her with half moon marks embedded into her skin. Allie was neither blind nor all that stupid, and she could see the implication that was masked in her friend's words, however much she didn't want to or however much she tried to convince herself that wasn't there.

No, she had to imagining it – or maybe she wanted to be imagining it because the fact that Lisa was _implying_ that something was – that she and –

It was ridiculous, how could she possible think something like that of Allie and of Tony? Hadn't it been Lisa who teased her about it despite Allie's insistance about it not being true? Who had it been that insisted _age is just a number_? Not that age mattered at all in this sense because for it to matter there would have to be something to make it matter, and there _wasn't_. Allie felt flabbergasted, and quite hurt from her friend's words, on part of herself and her on part of her boss. It made her want to snap _who was it that was having an office affair?_ But Allie witheld those words, knowing she wouldn't be able to take them back once they rolled off of her tongue and dug into Lisa's skin.

It was _concern_ , Allie tried to convince herself as she pushed down the ugly head of annoyance and anger, and Allie tried to be understanding because they were friends and they were allowed to be worried about the other even when there was no cause for it.

Allie sucked in a deep breath and resisted the urge to close her eyes and count to ten, not wanting to seem overly defensive which would put Lisa off. Her fingers tightened their grip on the arm of her dressing down in a bid to release the turmoil that was racing through Allie and choking her as she shifted on her feet, pursing her lips as Lisa awaited her response, eyes almost wide and doe eyed. _Concern, it's concern,_ Allie's voice echoed in her mind. _Where there's no cause for it,_ whispered another behind the other. "I'm sorry, it's what?"

Her voice sounded sharp, teeth turning her words into knives that bit into Lisa and made the other woman barely manage to suppress a wince as she continued to gnaw on her bottom lip, removing the lipstick that was painted there and making it speckled and spotted. Lisa's hands wrung themselves around and around each other as she remained tongue tied once more, making that anger within Allie's pounced again, wanting to tell the green eyed girl to just spit it out rather than dancing around Allie and risking her ire even more. There seemed to be regret lingering around the edges of Lisa's eyes, regret at what she was going to say or regret at even starting this conversation, Allie didn't know and didn't really care at that moment to find out. "Is the fact your his assistant the only reason you spend so much time around him?"

Allie's breath stilled in her throat, catching as she soaked in Lisa's words, fingernails threatening to rip through the thick material of her clothes and tear into the fragile skin of her arm, breaking bones with a single snap. Hurt flooded through her veins and burned at the back of Allie's mouth, engulfing her heart and her stomach began twisting itself into tangled knots, twisting up into her throat as she tried to push it down. Part of Allie hoped Lisa could see her hurt, could see it and feel guilt surround her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Lisa began, as if emboldened and strengthened as she ploughed on with her accusation that left a bad taste on Allie's tongue, staining her mouth. "That one would think you guys have more than just a professional relationship."

"'One would think'?" Allie scoffed, venom bubbling away at the edge of her words and wearing away at her voice, no longer attempting to keep up the niceties as Lisa did the same. Allie couldn't deny the offence she felt on her part as well as Tony's, hurt that Lisa would think so low of either, not even deciding to put her trust in Allie despite so many years of friendship. "Does that mean it's what _you_ think?"

Lisa seemed to snap, her hands flinging themselves up in the air before falling to rest on her hips, eyes disapproving as she peered at Allie's unrelenting gaze, mouth pressed into a small and thin líne, deciding to put an end to this dance that they did, no longer moving around each other and what they really wanted to say. Allie knew what it was that Lisa wanted to say but it still did not make her at all ready to hear it, to put her worries into reality. Allie was even all that more frustrated as she didn't really understand why it was Lisa thought this was all worth a fight. It made her thoughts and feelings tangled because it made no sense, none of this did because where had that support that had been there in the beginning? Where was the girl that had pressed Allie to take this job? Who was the one that teased and joked about how age was just a number?

Was it jealousy? Was it that Lisa hated the idea of Allie having someone else outside of her? Allie refused to think it true, didn't want to believe the thought but... there was a small, a tiny sliver of it being real and Allie found her disappointment in her friend, in her doubt and shaken trust, immeasurable.

"Oh, for God's sake, Al – don't tell me you don't think it's weird," Lisa hissed, as if Allie was the one in the wrong here and not her, as if Allie was the one who wasn't trusting or the one being judgemental and suspicious.

What was once an ember became a flame, now a raging fire in the bottom of her belly that sent licks of her throughout Allie.

"No, no, I don't actually," Allie snapped at the other woman, no longer deciding to reign herself in. There treading into dangerous territory and Allie threw caution to the wind, practically had bundled it up and thrown it out the window. She really did want to convince herself it was just her friend's concern, but concern for _what?_ What was it that Lisa could possible be concerned about that made her ready to pounce on Allie? Was Allie suddenly not allowed to have a life, or friends? Was she not allowed to finally enjoy the job that she had loathed to take? She hadn't realised her friend was prone to hypocrisy. "Just how is it weird?"

"You guys are always around each other!" Lisa exploded, the lid of the boiling pot she had tried to contain finally not able to contain everything inside any longer. Lisa's voice, so soft and sweet before, was not sharp and shrill, a rasp hanging on the ends of her words as her cheeks became pink yet again, blotched now with her ears tipped, frosted with red. "You leave for work early and you come home late. You're always texting him, too!"

Allie barely managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her friend's words. So, Lisa was annoyed because Allie did her job? That she wanted to be in early for it and to not be deemed lazy and ungrateful for the opportunity that had been handed to her on what had practically been a golden platter. It made Allie all that more fire and fury, gritting her teeth and hands curled into fists now, nails digging trenches in the palm of her hands. She felt stiff, breathing ragged as she dragged it in through her nose.

"So you're mad because I'm doing my job?" Allie spat, scoffing and shaking her head at her friend's ridiculousness – the fact they were even fighting about this seemed so surreal in Allie's head that she was half sure that maybe it was a scenario concocted by her still half asleep brain. And, quite frankly, so _what_ that she and Tony messaged one another? They needed constant communication and understanding between one another so nothing got lost in translation. "And I am _not_ always texting him!"

They spent too much time around each other in person to be texting all the time. Lisa was right in saying that Allie left early in the morning and returned home late in the evening, but what did she expect? Everything about this situation was completely ludicrous and Allie couldn't believe she had let herself be roped into it.

Lisa snorted at Allie's defence and it made the latter girl narrow her eyes at her friend, jaw clenched and muscle bouncing as Lisa rolled her eyes at her.

"Then let me see your top message thread in your phone," Lisa snapped and Allie's head reeled back, eyes blinking wide and a sharp breath left Lisa, as if proven right by Allie's silence. By this point, Allie was becoming more and more sure that Lisa was picking a fight to just have one, rather than voice concerns. "See, that's what I thought."

Allie shook her head, pushing herself away from the counter and taking to scraping back the wisps that had escaped along her hair líne as her feet slid across the floor of the kitchen. How many times Allie going to echo that it wasn't like that, that it was her job, that Tony wasn't a bad guy and so _what_ if she liked his company, so much so that she didn't mind that they communicated outside of the work at all? Even if – and it was a big and metaphorical _if_ – there was even a _small_ inkling that there _maybe_ something that could give the impression of there being more, it has hardly Lisa's concern; Allie was twenty five years of age, she was certainly old enough to care of herself and she had always been able to. For so long, there had always been no one else to rely on but herself. "It isn't like that, Lisa. He's just – "

He's just?

Her boss, her... God, could she even say friend? Did she have that right to stick that label on him? How could she explain it to Lisa if she herself didn't understand?

 _What's not to understand? You're his employee and he's your boss, nothing more and nothing less,_ whispered a voice in the back of her mind that sounded all to disapproving at Allie's train of thought. Caught up in her head, Allie barely heard Lisa's sour scoff as she clicked her tongue, throwing her gaze up to the ceiling.

"Your boss and twice your age."

Something snapped within Allie and she all but glared at Lisa, jaw tight and she nó longer bothered to keep her tongue and words caged behind her teeth.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Allie spat, the fire in her voice hardly doing justice the lividness she felt towards Lisa. This fight, the entirety of it all, was so god damn idiotic but it had been Lisa who had broached the subject, it had been her who had tried to make a problem where there was none. Long gone was the support that she had given to Allie, the jokes and jabs that had been thrown at the blue eyed girl as she insisted for Allie to take the job. That elephant Allie had once thought to only be in her mind was now a wedge between the two girls, trumpeting and refusing to be ignored. "Weren't _you_ the one in the beginning talking all about how ' _age is just a number_ '? Weren't _you_ the one who told me to take the job? What made you turn your mind around?"

Allie's voice left her in a rush, the sound growing and climbing steadily higher and higher until it was near a shout before she reigned it back in. Lisa's face was redder now, the make up she was wearing unable to mask the splattered blotches ón her cheek. Lisa huffed, turning away so she half faced Allie, keeping the other side a secret away from her.

"Because I didn't think you'd actually start _liking_ the guy!"

Lisa's accusation rang in Allie's ears as all those flames within her were put out instantly, unable to speak through the haze and smoke that engulfed her. Allie blinked, mouth opening once to say something, anything, but silence remained and she shut it once more, feeling dumfounded as well as at a loss for words at Lisa's accusation that dug into Allie.

How could Lisa possibly - !

As _if,_ Allie liked him; yes, she enjoyed being around him and found him so easy to talk to, but that didn't mean she _liked_ liked him. Allie was allowed to appreciate someone's company without having to have interest in them, she was allowed to have friends; for so long, Allie lacked them and now that she could possibly have more than one? Sure, maybe Allie could understand being friends with your boss could be considered weird but... Trying to see Tony as exactly that was getting harder because it didn't feel like many of the other workplaces she had been in and he wasn't like any of the people she was forced to work under. He made her feel comfortable, made it feel less like a job that she should loathe to wake up for, and helped her see it as – in his words – an adventure of sorts.

Not the type of adventure she might have thought she would have, but it was different, it was new in her life.

He didn't expect anything from her, only the little Allie could do and she didn't feel pressured by anything, not as she used to; the work load was easy and even then, he kept insisting on just throwing everything out and not bother to read anything because it was so time consuming anyway, but Allie had always insisted, always did when he tried to make her job almost _easier_ for her. She didn't have to deal with rude people anymore (Tony always snatched the phone from her and mocked the other person on the other end of the phone for their lack of manners and each time, it made something swell in Allie's chest), he always listened to what she said and though sometimes he didn't agree or want to comply, more often than not he did – if only for Allie's gentle pushing and small compromises.

Above all, Tony Stark was _nice_ to her, and there were very few people in Allie's life that had been so.

And – and so what if she thought Tony was handsome? Anyone able to see and with half a braincell could tell he was, no matter if he was dressed down or dolled up, if he stank of frease and oil or some fancy cologne that was probably worth more than this entire apartment building. If he had a horrible personality, she would have been turned off by him, but he just _didn't_. Sure, he liked to joke around too much and ignore his responsibilites, but who didn't? Allie had been running from her past all her life, so she could hardly cast the first stone. He was friendly towards her, kind even and couldn't see how Lisa could even have a problem with Allie having feelings towards him – if they existed. Tony Stark was hardly the worst man out there to have feelings for (Allie could think of more than one of Lisa's ex-boyfriends') or be in a relationship, so it confused her as to why it bothered Lisa so much, coupled with why Lisa thought it was her concern who Allie talked with or how it was that Lisa suddenly turned a sharp 180 regarding her previously positive feelings towards Tony.

Heat surged in Allie's cheeks, little petals blooming as Lisa's words rang in her eart.

The more Allie thought about, the more it hurt her head and her thoughts were too tangled to see through and she just didn't get it. Shaking her head, trying to not get caught in the sticky and silky web that was her thoughts about Tony Stark, Allie reeled herself back into reality and straightened her back, loosening her shoulders.

"I don't – " Allie choked out, digging her voice back up from its grave at the bottom of her throat, nearly tripping on it as she will the warmth creeping up her neck and spilling across her cheeks to go away. "I _don't_ like him! He's my _boss_."

Her insistance did little to deter Lisa from her course. "That didn't stop you and Francis from having a date before."

"That was different – he wasn't my boss then," Allie defended, not even half surprised that Lisa had brought the past up, though didn't see how it stood in this conversation at this point in time since Lisa couldn't even seem to muster any dislike for Francis. It had been one date, years and years ago, and they had left it at that. It made even less sense since, out of the two of them standing here, the one making all these accusations was the one going against the rules and engaging in a workplace romance. "God, I really can't spend time around any guy without wanting to jump in his pants? Through all this, I haven't even said anything about you and _Stewart_."

"That is _completely_ different to you and Stark!" Lisa's voice was reaching high peaks now, passing into sound shrill and uneven as she sucked in another breath sharply.

"How?" Allie bit back.

"He's my _boyfriend_ , Allie," Lisa explained, as if Allie was slow to understand. "We're _dating_ and I have _romantic_ feelings for him, just like he does me."

Allie felt herself seething, teeth grtited and voice strangled. "And Tony – "

"So, it's Tony now, is it?" Lisa repeated, all but disregarding Allie's attempt at defending not only herself, but Tony too. _It's so weird you call him Mr. Stark outside of work,_ Lisa had once teased Allie once, poking fun at her friend but none of that joking remained now. There was a tingling in Allie's eyes and she tried to push them away, knowing that if the tears came on, it would be game over and she would lose.

"God, I can't do a fucking thing without you getting at me for it!" Allie croaked out, weary of this fight and wanting it over. Part of her wondered was this how her life would be until June, defending Tony Stark until she had no air left for her lungs; maybe it would be like this for the rest of her life, because she could not stand by and left good people be malicously talked about without their knowing. Allie hated gossip, hated talking about people behind their back and it gave her all that more energy to leap to Tony's defence. "Who was it who told me to take this job? Who told me that I should give him a chance? You were all on his side but the second it turns out that me and him might actually be friends, you change your mind!"

"Oh, please, as if."

"You really can't bear the thought that I might actually have a friend outside of you, can you?" Allie asked, voice dropping and void of anger and fire, almost breathless and tired of their battle. Her words caught Lisa, stunning the other woman and she took a moment to think, face softening only briefly before stone was set into her features, a narrowed glint in her emeralg eyes that were all too like a predator's at that moment.

"I wonder," Lisa began slowly, smoothly. "How your _friend_ would feel if I called him up and told him everything about you."

Allie couldn't remember a time her heart stilled, couldn't remember the last time everything within her seemed so much like stone as Lisa's face was one reminiscent of Medusa; her words hung in the air for a brief second as Allie's legs began to feel weak, threatening to drop out from beneath her and even doing as so as she fell into the chair, managing to grab it at the last second as she tried to recollect all the shattered piece's of herself. Shock began to find itself onto Lisa's face once more, morphing her cold features into something more familiar, more her friend.

"You..." Allie's voice shook, no where near strong enough to stand against Lisa's words. "You wouldn't."

"No. _No,_ " Lisa insisted, eyes wide and shame was heavy around her, rolling off in waves around her as she brought her hands to her mouth as if to hide her shock before she buried her face into her palms so as to not face Allie, or perhaps to face her consequences of threat. "Al, _shi_ _t –_ no, I didn't mean to – "

"How could you say that?" "How could you even think of doing that?"

"No, I wasn't thinking," Lisa insisted, looking up and her eyes were wet, damp and threatening to spill over into tears. Lisa took a step forward, as if to hug Allie or take her hand, but she stopped before she could, electing to clasp her hands together."Al, I wouldn't _ever_ do that to you."

"I... I get why you're worried," Allie began, tongue darting out to rush across her chapped lips, the balls of her feet brushing against the ground from how far back in the chair she was sitting. Silence existed where noise had been before and for once, Allie did not wish for New York City to be so quiet. "But... Leese... I'm twenty-five years old. I can make decisions for myself."

"I know you can," Lisa affirmed, sounding all so weak and soft in comparison to the sharp steel she had been before.

"I like spending time with him," Allie explained coolly, impressing even herself for keeping a steady voice despite the tingling in her eyes and the lump that was strangling her at the bottom of her throat. Allie deeply wished that she really hadn't taken the day off today, she would rather be anywhere else but there. "And I like being around him like how I like being around you. But... it... isn't what you think."

 _It's not the same_ , a voice tried to whisper, too weak and frail that Allie couldn't feel the weight of truth in its voice.

"Allie... I'm..." Lisa trailed off and Allie thought to accuse her of crocodile tears but withheld her tongue, taking it between her teeth so it couldn't waggle and drop off the words she really wanted to say. _Forgive and forget,_ they always said. _Resent and remember,_ cackled a different voice. Lisa's voice shook, warbling unevenly as she ploughed on. "I'm sorry for questioning you and for saying... well, saying everything. But for saying that... about telling him – I didn't mean it."

"I'm sorry for going off on you. And I'm sorry for not being around as often as you like."

"No, I get it, I do," Lisa stumbled, tripping over her words with her tongue tied, hands wringing together in nervousness once more. A shaky breath left Lisa, teeth taking ahold of her bottom lip once more to chew on it, as if to curb her guilt. "Just... just like how I spend time at work and with Stewart, you have to spend time at work and with Stark, just... not in the same way."

"Exactly," Allie insisted, nodding along. "It's not the same."

 _It's not the same,_ echoed in Allie's mind, too loud and sharp. It continued to bounce around her head, pinging off of her skull.

 _It's not the same._

"Sorry, again," Lisa whispered, dropping her head in what Allie hoped was shame. That wedge between them grew and grew to the point that it made Allie wonder if it would ever be stitched back; even if it was, everything said today would be seared into each other's memory, the hurt that Allie felt feeling too heavy for her to simply throw away.

"I'm sorry, too," Allie repeated the words didn't feel all too right on her tongue. But she was tired of fighting and didn't want to fight with Lisa; this was not how she expected to start her day off and the weather outside seemed to match her dark and gloomy mood. Forgive and forget, build a bridge and get over it, all those thoughts ran through her mind as the flames of feeling hurt were being quenched by her desire for peace, even though the embers might remain behind.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate," Lisa muttered turning away to the couch that sat in front of the TV where her coat and bag were slung over the back rather than on the hook near the door. She took them in hand and slipped her arm through the holes of her coat and placed the bag over her shoulder, hands fixated on unturning the caught collar in an attempt to seem too busy to meet Allie's eyes. "It's late, I need to get to work."

"Alright, I'll..." Allie's mouth insanely dry, tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as her nails threatened to drag themselves across the top of the table before deciding to take her far from warm drink in her hand so that claw marks would not be scratched into the wooden surface. The lump in her throat was more prevelaent now, harder to ignore or push away. Lisa looked away, in guilt or regret, Allie didn't know. "I'll see you later then."

Lisa gave a gentle nod, voice almost a hushed whisper. "Yeah, I'll see you."

"Bye," Allie echoed back, thumb rushing over the rim of her lukewarm drink that was rapidly cooling and was no longer appetising to drink, the smell of it alone far too sweet and sugary for her taste buds so late at night.

Lisa's footsteps retreated from the kitchen, catching the heels of her shoes as she went towards the front door, soft and catlike before no longer within Allie's hearing range with a moment of silence heavy throughout the apartment before there was the soft click of a door shutting, closing the two women off from one another and leaving them to stew in their own thoughts and go about their day separately. The watery pale light over head centred on the table did little to lighten Allie's mood against the grey clouds that stormed outside the apartment as well as inside, making her feel all gloom and doom within her own little shadow that was her mind, thoughts rattling off of her skull and she stared into the murky brown of her drink.

She didn't want to think about Lisa's words, didn't want to give them a moment of thought because Allie couldn't remember the last time they fought like that, couldn't remember if they had ever had a fight so serious since the beginning of their friendship – let alone over a _guy_. The clouds over head grew darker, greyer and thundered as Allie began to ponder on the echo of Lisa's words – and her insinuations.

Allie just couldn't understand her friend's mind at times; it seemed all that occupied Lisa's brain was sex, boys and more sex and it frustrated Allie because she couldn't understand _why_ Lisa had gotten so pent up about the idea of Allie and Tony being together – however false and untrue and impossible it may be.

Hadn't Lisa been the one always pushing Allie to go for dates she had arranged? The one who seemed almost desperate in trying to snatch a man for her friend? Allie knew Lisa had good intentions, knew that Lisa did it out of love and hope that Allie wouldn't always have to be alone but it annoyed her, irritated Allie nonetheless. Allie didn't want to remain bitter towards her friend but there was a sour taste in her mouth, stinging and leaving a burning trail that dripped down the back of her throat. Lisa never once thought to share her own love life with Allie, but the minute there might be a miniscule of evidence that Allie might have her own love life, it was suddenly _everyone's_ business.

No, _no –_ this wouldn't do, thinking like this and having these vicious and unpleasant thoughts towards her only friend wouldn't do. Allie knew, _knew_ it was done out of love, out of worry towards Allie and Allie could see that through the haze of resentfulness.

She didn't know why she was so worked up, frustrated by her friend's way of mind, hurt by Lisa's words and feeling, quite frankly, _insulted._ But Allie wasn't going to let nearly six years of friendship go because of her emotions. Taking a deep breath, Allie loosened her tightened grip on her cup, letting go of it completely as her eye dropped to the laminated table top; outside, the wind howled but she could hear the faint inner workings of New York, of the horns and the voices, shouting and sometimes a police siren that rang early in the morning. Allie would get over this, the both of them would, even if it would feel awkward for a little while.

All those words and insinuations lingered in Allie's mind, of her and Tony and _them._ No one would believe that, right? Nothing was happening – nothing would _ever_ happen because she was his assistant and he was her boss and he was, what, nearly twenty years older than her? He probably thought of her as some annoying little kid to keep around, hardly a contender against Pepper Potts and the mere fact that Lisa could even think of Allie being an equal in any way against Pepper Potts was laughable in itself; as _if_ Allie was on the same level of standing against one of the world's most powerful, intelligent and beautiful woman. Allie hardly liked to think of herself capable of being a homewrecker and even if she might have been, she didn't stand a chance against the only and only Pepper Potts.

Such brooding let Allie's mood deepen into something worse, something akin to despair, a depressed episode. Why even compare herself to Pepper Potts? It's as she said: she wasn't in equal standing in any way to the woman… least of all when it comes to Tony Stark's love life. So, comparing herself to Pepper was liking comparing dogs to fish, elephants to snakes, birds to worms: it just didn't make sense to put those two into a same category.

With her frustration now turned onto herself, Allie stood, chucking what remained of her drink into the sink and turning to go to bed and hopefully ease off on thoughts such as these; Allie cursed Lisa for putting them into her mind, cursed her for making Allie over think about everything and about Tony Stark and how Allie could never even come close to being a person like Pepper Potts to him. She didn't _want_ to even be that, couldn't care less about it, in fact. It was the 21st century, she didn't need to compare herself to another woman or vice versa and she wasn't going to get _upset_ over a _guy_. Not that Allie was upset – definitely not – and she wasn't going to break her streak of not being distraught over the male gender, one specific person of said gender, for the past twenty five years now.

Rest, she needed _rest_ to put these thoughts to rest, to stop thinking about him and Lisa's words and what she meant and how it seemed to be all Allie was thinking about. Allie didn't care about the door slamming, didn't care if it awoke or startled Lisa or the neighbours because if she had to suffer, so did they.

There was absolutely nothing, _nothing_ going on between her and Tony Stark and that was final and she was only upset because… because…

 _Because?_

A half strangled, frustrated cry left Allie and she all but flung herself into the once comforting bed once more, the sheets and mattress drained of whatever warmth that had been embedded in them when she had first left it. Her face met her duvet, muffling the sound that left her and caught in her throat as she bounced, once, twice and a third time before everything stilled – Allie's legs askew as they hung off the side of the bed and the rest of her laying atop of her messed sheets.

Suddenly, the twenty four hours she had to herself were far too long and Allie wanted nothing more than to be at work – to be _distracted._

It seemed that no matter where she was, Allie's mind was always to be plagued with thoughts of Tony Stark.

* * *

 _ **Hello, hello! It's been some time!**_ _ **Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to thank all those who left reviews since i was away!**_

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 **I'd like to give a big, big, big thank you to everyone who dropped reviews while i was in** **purgatory** **for the last few months. I was so disheartened after my laptop broke and when I lost everything - all my chapters, my story and chapter outlines and what i had been writing before i lost it all, not to mention I ended up losing my microsoft word subscription. But reading all your reviews really gave me the strength to crack open a word document on a different document app and start writing again.**

 **So thank you dumblestark, Aunknowntimelord, kattcrue, jinchaa, PtLacky, Krakengirl, ESPECIALLY McLoving Grey's, Untied Heartbeat, vexwhite, Azaira, Emmy, BlackWoldWanderlust, rina499, nada101, PrincessMagic, RandomFandoming, MotherAiya, drmsqnc, myharlequinroman, Lucky Strike's alter ego, Chancellor S, NinjaPenguinLover, JesiLea, eden, Neon and all the guests who left me such comforting and supportive comments! I wish i could write an essay to each and every single one of you on how much it means to me but i wouldn't have time for writing this story any more.**

 **But seriously, your comments helped a writer who was stuck without anything to write with for so long.**

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 **Hey, hi, hello, long time no see.**

 **I am sorry to everyone i left hanging. I'm not even completely happy with this chapter, or with my writing. I've grown more insecure in anything I write and it's taken me many, MANY attempts to even get this out (it's been sitting in my drafts since late june). I really am sorry and I'm not trying to make excuses or anything. This fic was started in a burst of passion, and now that has dwindled to an ember.**

 **Thank you for reading and sticking by me. It really means a lot.**


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